Down the Rabbit Hole
by makoeyedsoldier
Summary: House wakes up from his coma to find Cuddy holding his hand. Could the two finally see the future they could have together?
1. Chapter 1

"…with me…."

"Hmm?"

"…stay with me…"

"I haven't gone any where…"

House walked into the familiar office with the windows at the back and the desk situated perfectly in the middle. Cuddy was sitting behind her desk working on some papers before she noticed House gently close the door behind him. She stopped writing and put her papers away as he cautiously stepped into the room.

He began to look around for clues, hints as to why he was here and what was going on. His eyes finally settled back on Cuddy's who was looking right back at him with a look of expecting on her face. He studied her for a few seconds.

"…this is another dream, isn't it?"

"I thought I was supposed to be in a school girl outfit if this was one of your dreams."

"Hmm, that is true… you do seem to be a little… over dressed for the occasion… However, the fact that I was just in a hospital bed about two seconds ago does lead me to believe that this is, in fact, a dream."

"…don't give up…"

House looked at her with confusion in his eyes. He knew he had just heard her voice, but it was distant. He had watched her mouth as the sound hit his ears and she had not moved, knowing suddenly dawned on him.

"That far off voice was the real you, wasn't it?"

House asked with his usual smug expression. This wasn't that hard to figure out. A classic case of misplaced sound mixed with delusion, a common symptom of head trauma cases.

Cuddy nodded gently before she looked back up at him and smiled. Not the smile she gave when she finally got him to do her bidding, not the smile she gave when she was playing with him, but the other smile. This was the smile she saved for when he would do those REALLY outlandish things… such as be genuinely nice to her.

Her lips began to move this time.

"I don't want you to leave me…"

The room began to get fuzzy and spin

"Please, stay with me."

The voice began to get more solid, and faintly he began to hear the sound of a heart monitor beeping gently. The throb of his head came back with full force as he struggled vaguely to open his heavy eyes. As he did, he heard her breath catch.

"Don't…you… have a hospital… to run?"

He asked in barely more than a whisper. As he did, his eyes gently opened. Her face was glistening with tears. He was back in the hospital bed. As he thought, he was still in the ICU, and still under intensive care. But what did surprise him was that Cuddy was still here. He looked down gingerly, trying not to move his head, and noticed that she was holding his hand. He looked back up at her face to see her smile.

"I'm not sure if you know this, but without you screwing things up, this place is a well oiled machine. It doesn't really need me unless something is wrong."

He smirked, let go of her hand and gently brought his own up to his head to inspect the damage.

"Don't. The seizure you had made your head shake so much that your brain bled. You've been in and out for more than a week".

He put his hand back down at his side and looked around the ICU as much as he could without moving his head. He knew that if it was as bad as what she said then he would need to prevent any further damage to his head.

There was no one else here. He hadn't really expected there to be anyone. Cuddy was surprise enough. He was sure that Foreman and the rest of his minions were doing their job, and not particularly caring that he wasn't present. Cameron and Chase were likely doing the same and Wilson…

"…How is he?"

Cuddy obviously didn't need clarification. She looked down as she spoke.

"He's been in here a few times… never said anything though. He hasn't been back in a few days, but that's relatively understandable. He turned off the life support himself… My guess is that he's been resting for the last few days."

House didn't respond. He didn't voice the pain that was building inside his chest. He had seen the pain in Wilson's eyes as he looked at him. House had only been conscious for a few minutes at the time, but Wilson didn't speak to him. They simply stared at each other, communication wasn't really necessary.

House knew that Wilson would never look at him in quite the same way. He would never be the friend he had once been. House had played a huge role in the death of the woman he had loved, and for that he knew Wilson would never truly forgive him.

House had never admitted it before, but now he knew. His loneliness was immense, an abyss that constantly threatened to engulf him, but there had always been that one person to stave it off, Wilson. But now, he was completely alone, alone with only his bitterness and self-loathing to keep him company.

Suddenly he was aware of a hand on his arm. The warmth was soothing, gently pulling him away from that pit of despair he was teetering so close to the edge of. As the hand gently pulled him back into the here and now, his eyes were again drawn to the tears on her face. A question suddenly jumped at him.

"Why were you crying?"

He watched as she immediately began to wipe her face with her hands, trying in vain to hide the evidence. He smiled slightly at the attempt.

"You saw me conscious a few days ago. You knew that I had come out of the coma then, and didn't have obvious brain damage. Why cry now?"

She smiled gently at him. She reached for his face and brushed some of the unruly hair out of his eyes. The gesture surprised House, but even more surprising was his reaction. He felt soothed, slightly more tranquil, and even comfortable.

"A few hours ago, your brain activity showed signs of slowing, and you began to go into cardiac arrest. We had to defibrillate. You've been stable for the last two hours, but your brain activity only now came back to normal."

He lifted his hands to his chest were he immediately felt the burn from the defibrillator. She was right. He had almost died today and she had been here through all of it. She seemed to be the only one who had cared whether he lived or died, not that it really surprised him. He was an ass. It should have been him who had the plug pulled, not Amber.

He looked back at her. As if reading his mind, she spoke.

"Everyone has been in here to see you at least 3 times. Cameron almost starved to death. I finally threatened her job just so she would go home and bathe. Chase, of course, did the surgery on the back of your head that saved you, and Foreman has been your attending. So, your three stooges have followed him in here every time he's come to check on you… and a few times of their own accord."

She smiled at his disbelieving look. He had been sure that no one would care that much about him. Not when he had caused Amber's death. Cuddy responded to his look of shock.

"You're an ass, House… you're not a monster. People here do care about you."

House gently leaned his head back into the pillow. He stared straight ahead of him, not wanting to let those words become anymore then what they were, a lie told to soothe his conscience… but they were still nice. Cuddy had done a lot for him these past few days. He was sure of it.

She had been by his side the entire time. She had cared for him in a way that no one else had bothered, besides Cameron, but House had already accepted her status as the lost love struck puppy that would follow him anywhere. Cuddy's show of kindness meant something much more. House smiled to himself.

He beckoned her to lean closer to him so he could speak. She obliged and moved in, slowly. His piercing blue eyes stared at her in a way that was unique to him, the same way that always managed to send a small shiver up her spine. He looked at her intensely and patiently, waiting for her to get just close enough to his mouth. She was finally close enough to where he could whisper in her ear.

She felt his warm breath on the side of her face and close her eyes. She kicked herself mentally for letting her emotions take her away like this. Before he spoke, he gently lifted a hand and brushed away a few stray hairs so he had full access to her ear. This simple motion required Cuddy to use all her focus in order to not involuntarily shudder, which she lost control of as the same hand began to travel lightly down her neck.

She could almost feel him smile next to her ear. He knew what he was doing to her, and he was taking his sweet time letting that hand fall further and further to her shoulder. Finally he gently began to whisper.

"Go home, Cuddy. You need a shower. You're starting to smell like feet and rotten eggs."

Cuddy smacked his arm as she drew away. House chuckled at her anger. She sat and fumed for a few seconds, but her expression began to soften as she realized that this was actually a good thing. This was the old House. He would be fine, and his acerbic jokes were the proof of that.

"I'll leave when you fall back to sleep. You need to get some rest, and knowing you, now that you're up, it'll take 10 Vicodin and 3 shots of whisky to put you back out."

"Are you offering?"

"No! Just go back to sleep, House."

House put on his best puppy dog expression before he said.

"But I'm not sweepy, mommy."

Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"Can I have some warm milk? A bed time story? You know my last nurse used to tuck me in… if you know what I mean?"

"How about I punch you in the face, and knock you out? I could do that."

Cuddy said with her characteristic eyebrow tweek. House looked sufficiently put off as he settled back into his bed. He let out a small sigh before closing his eyes. Cuddy also began to settle back down in her own chair, before she heard,

"I guess I'll just have to go back to dreams of you in that school-girl outfit again. It makes your ass look great."


	2. Chapter 2

ch 2

2 Days Later

Cuddy sat in her office, idly looking at paper work that needed to be filled out. House had slept through the night, and awoke naturally the next morning…or so she had heard. She had made good on her promise to leave as soon as he fell asleep. She had needed a shower. He had been right, as always. Still, she knew deep down that wasn't the only reason she had left his side.

She could still feel his breath on the side of her face, warm, inviting, the tender trace of his hands down the side of her neck. It was more than enough to make her forget the day's paper work, and be drawn to that room in the ICU.

She didn't understand what was going on. This was HOUSE! She couldn't stand the guy. Sure he made her laugh, and occasionally would go out of his way to do something nice for her, but 9 times out of 10 he was the usual snotty ass to her. The know-it-all jerk that drove her up the wall… but then again, that was what he was doing now, wasn't it?

She let out an exasperated sigh. Her reaction to his touch wasn't the only thing keeping her mind in the ICU at that moment. Wilson had come back yesterday, and she had been witness to yet another stand off. The two merely stared at each other, not a word was spoken. It was like they were both stubborn children waiting for the other one to crack.

Sure Cuddy felt more than sympathy for Wilson's situation. He had just lost one of the great loves of his life. Not only that, but he had been the one to take her off life support. Still, to blame House was just childish. Even she wasn't about to stoop so low in her agitation with House.

He had done everything in his power to save the woman, also. Yes, he probably shouldn't have gotten drunk that night, but Amber had no reason to follow him onto the bus. She could have given him his cane the next day. It was obvious to Cuddy that this was no one's fault.

Still, Wilson's reaction was surprising. If anything, he should actually be apologizing to House for making him do that stupid procedure. If it hadn't been for Wilson, House would not have gone into the coma that nearly cost him his life, or turned him into a vegetable. Wilson had no right to put one life above another, even if it had been the woman he loved.

And yet… House had gone along with it. Cuddy rubbed her face in her hands. This was probably the most disturbing part. House knew what the consequences were, but he did it anyway, for Wilson. This either meant that House was feeling EXTREMELY guilty about what happened to Amber, or he just cared that much for Wilson… or both.

This confused her the most. She had never known House to feel guilt, or remorse, much less affection. It was this realization about House's character that had caused her to stay by his side for the last week. It was this realization that made her want to forget years of frustration, and look beyond the surface to the man underneath. But would he show this side of himself again? And if he did, would it be to anyone besides Wilson?

Cuddy suddenly gasped as a thought dawned on her. What if House was actually…gay? What if the fact that he only ever seemed to show affection to Wilson proved he did, in fact, have deeper feelings for the man? Could his friendship with the Oncologist have been another one of his clever rouses designed to throw people off the trail?

She suddenly felt sick. Did she know this man at all? Did she know herself at all? She finally decided that she wasn't about to sulk around this office any longer, and would find out for herself. She pulled out a small clip-board, meant to disguise her visit to the ICU as nothing more than a routine check on the staff, and made her way to the elevators.

As the doors opened, Cuddy was immediately met with the sight of Chase and Cameron. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was obvious that they had just had a small fight. Chase was staring at the floor and Cameron began to walk away… toward House's ICU, she noticed.

As she approached, Chase looked up to see her. A small smile of greeting played at his lips. He had his arms crossed and was leaning against the nurses station directly across from House's ICU. The room had glass walls, intended for nurses to keep an eye on their intensive care patients… and rather convenient for spying. Chase and Cuddy both watched from the nurse's station.

House was awake. Cuddy blew off her uncontrolled emotion of relief at his consciousness as she saw Cameron slowly approach his bed. It was obvious House was making one of his usual snide remarks to her. What he was saying couldn't be heard, but Chase and Cuddy both became acutely aware of Cameron's lack of interest in any stark comment House had to say.

She was watching him with the eyes of one who had just seen a dead parent. Her eyes were watering, and she finally lost control and threw herself onto House in a weeping hug.

Cuddy was not surprised to sense Chase tense at the motion; however, she was EXCEEDINGLY surprised and alarmed when she herself felt the dark twinge of jealousy stir in her gut. The only thing that she could seem to think about was walking into the unit and ripping Cameron off of House.

The only thing that stopped her was Houses expression. He rolled his eyes slightly, before gently patting her on her head. The movement gave Cuddy the chance to get the beast under control. She heaved a big sigh before she was finally able to turn her attention to Chase… who had yet to even get a lasso on his beast.

She gently put a hand on his arm.

"I know for a fact that House only thinks of her as a sister…"

She looked back in the ICU just in time to catch House sneaking a glimpse at Cameron's over exposed rear before she continued with a snarl.

"A hot step-sister, maybe, but a sister none the less."

Chase's expression had softened a little as he looked at her. They both knew that she was right. House had made it perfectly clear time and time again that he wanted nothing to do with Cameron… nothing except the occasional inappropriate gander, at least, but that was his way with all pretty women.

"Not exactly the way I would treat my step-sister."

Drawled Chase in his thick Australian accent. Cuddy smirked.

"Well be happy he doesn't call her 'mommy' and then proceed to make lewd comments to her. I can't even fathom the feeding frenzy psychiatrists would have on him."

Cuddy noticed a small smile playing on the sides of Chase's mouth.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing… nothing at all."

His smile was full out now

"Don't give me that. What is it?"

"Well…"

"Yes?"

"Well… it just seems that if House has made a little family for himself… and you're the matriarch… well, I just find it interesting that he would put people he finds as equals, or lesser as his siblings, and people he admires as his superiors."

Chase turned to her and smiled. She tried her hardest to find an argument, but when she couldn't, she simply tried to hide her blush as she said,

"Who knows what's going on in that crazy head of his…"

"And of course, that would make Wilson the father."

Cuddy was suddenly snapped back into reality.

"Of course!"

Chase looked at her in confusion.

"Don't you see? That is where all this mess is coming from. He's having daddy issues. The fact that his 'father' is upset with him right now just makes him want to do whatever it takes to get his affection back!"

Chase looked at her a little doubtingly

"You think House is that desperate for Wilson's affection?"

"It would make sense wouldn't it? That would explain why he did what he did."

"That would also make him… well… a little gay… don't you think?"

Cuddy looked at him expectantly. When she didn't respond, Chase burst into laughter. The response threw her so far off that all she could do was watch as he wiped the tears away from his eyes. When he finally calmed down to talk he held his side as he spoke.

"You're almost as bad as I was with Cameron, making every excuse in the world to not have feelings for her."

She didn't even bother to hide it this time. Her face went tomato red with that last sentence. Had she been that obvious? And if Chase could see through her like a glass window, than House had seen through her about 20 years before that. Her stomach started to turn over again. She decided to use her last defense… denial, major denial.

"I… don't know what you're talking about. Just because you couldn't come straight out with your feelings for Cameron doesn't mean that you need to project the scenario onto every passer by you see."

Chase raised his hands in submission.

"You're probably right. You know you better than anyone here, but let me just say, I am 100% sure that House is straight."

His sentence was ended to the sound of the ICU door sliding open. Cuddy watched as Cameron walked out. She immediately saw that Chase was in a better mood, and went to his open arms. They embraced before walking towards the elevator, arm-in-arm. Cuddy smiled to herself, they were good together.

"GET A ROOM YOU TWO!!!"

House's shout could be heard all the way from the elevators, where Cameron turned a brilliant shade of Crimson, and Chase simply shook his head. Cuddy let out a sigh before turning her attention to the very, very, very sick patient.

"You going to come in here or what?"

Came the chiding remarks of the infirm. Cuddy put her hands, clip-board and all on her hips as she stared at him.

"I think I heard somewhere that wild animals are best viewed from a distance."

"Or in the bedroom, whichever."

House retorted with a sneer. She moved into the room and sat down next to him on the bed.

"Whatcha got on the clip-board, mommy? More super-duper exciting hospital business?"

Cuddy suddenly went still. In her haste to get out of the office to see House, she had forgotten to attach one of the reviews to the board. She was simply holding a board with nothing but a blank sheet of paper on it.

If House were to find out that she had no reason to be down here, then Chase would defiantly not be the only one to know about her stifled feeling. She pulled the clip-board to her chest before saying.

"Oh, nothing. Just worker reviews, you know, the usual."

Her attempt to sound nonchalant had gone over terribly. House was giving her a look that a father gives a child who has just rift off a terrible lie.

"What's on the board, Cuddy?"

She tried to laugh and blow it off again.

"I told you, it's nothing…"

"If it was nothing, than you wouldn't be trying so hard to hide it from me."

"I'm not trying to hide it from you. I just know that you won't be interested in…"

"Then let me see it."

"What?"

"Let me see the paper if it's nothing."

"Wha? That's… ridiculous, you're paranoid"

"You're not making a good argument for yourself."

Before she could respond, he had made a snatch at the paper. She was able to pull it out of his reach just in time. She stood out of his reach and walked toward the trash can outside the room, pulled the blank sheet off the clipboard crumpled it up and threw it away.

"Nice thing about not being crippled you know."

She said with a smile.

"You are aware that I have minions, and they are required to do my bidding or else they lose their jobs?"

"Yes, that is true, but if they don't do MY bidding, then they lose there jobs anyway… oh, and lets not forget that I outrank you."

Suddenly Cuddy realized that he was staring at her again. Eyes piercing through hers, trying to figure her out, like she was a puzzle. Unfortunately, she knew that she wasn't that hard to solve. She looked away from him as she blushed. She could have cursed her autonomic reflexes for kicking in at such a bad time.

He simply took all of her into consideration.

"What was on the sheet of paper, Cuddy?"

"Well, it was a request for transfer to the Bahamas with your name written on it, but now I think I'm just going to give you more clinic duty here."

She said sarcastically. When she looked back at him he had that smile on his face, his knowing smile. She had come to sit back down next to him, but she was starting to think that hadn't been such a good idea. The proximity was giving her goosebumps that she was sure he could see.

There was distance between them. His arm was well situated on the bed, and her hands were in her lap, but she felt as if she were naked in front of him. His eyes did wonders. With a simple look, she was slowly realizing that he could melt her.

He simply stared at her, still sizing her up. All she could imagine were those piercing eyes, and how they would look when he was on top of her. The emotion that they would reveal as they both climbed to a mutual orgasm. She could almost smell the heady scent of it, taste it on her lips. It was intoxicating. He was intoxicating.

She finally couldn't take anymore. She stood up without excuse and began to walk toward the door.

"I love it when you let your hair down. You need to do it more often."

She stopped at the door and turned to face him with a roll of the eyes. Her hair was in a neat little bun that day.

"Is that supposed to be your lame attempt at an insult for how I look today?"

"No, it was a metaphor. I use those from time to time."

He said with a smile. She looked away when the realization hit her. She was always very uptight with him, but she knew why. If she caved in at all then it would just be a very slow fall. To where? She didn't know, and she wasn't quite ready to find out yet.

"I can't do that too often around you, House."

She said in barely more than a whisper.

"Why not?"

He inquired gently.

"Because, I can't risk falling too far down your rabbit hole. Some of us like to keep our feet on the ground."

And with that she turned, and left. House stared after her for a few minutes until a nurse walked passed his vision. It took a few chaste remarks, but he finally goaded her into reaching into the trashcan to retrieve the crumpled piece of paper.

The nurse handed it to him and walked away. House slowly flattened the sheet. When the sheet was back to its original state, he flipped it over a few times before smiling. He smiled with a happiness he hadn't felt in a few days. He had been right.

She had come to see him.


	3. Chapter 3

ch 3

A week later, House had made sufficient enough progress to be sent home for a couple of days. His skull was still cracked and his concussion hadn't gone away completely, but they had felt confident that he would be in no danger in his own home. Well, at least his home wouldn't be any danger to him. Whether or not he would be an idiotic danger to himself was yet to be decided. So, true to form, Cuddy had assigned yet another private nurse to House.

House was convinced that if the last nurse had been an embarrassing pain in the ass, then this one was nothing short of a suppository. He had to sneak into the bathroom every time he wanted to pop a Vicodin. He would feign a stomach ache just so he wouldn't have to eat her terrible cooking, and would sneak Chinese take-out in the middle of the night. Worst of all, she would scream like a banshee if she even got a whiff of him making a phone call to his team.

His team had been on a new case for the last week, and he had done everything from hiding in his closet under 10 blankets in the middle of the night, to flat out running down the street trying to get away from her while he talked on the cell phone. When she finally had enough and took the cell phone away from him, House decided to stop being Mr. Nice Guy, two could play this annoying game…

****

Cuddy had been working on some salaries paperwork when her phone rang.

"Lisa Cuddy, how can I help you?" She answered in her best business tone.

"Dr. Cuddy? This is Maria Strikes, the private nurse you assigned to Dr…" "Is that Cuddy? Let me speak to her!"

Cuddy's attention was finally turned away from her work as she heard the familiar male voice in the phone.

"I said, NO!!" came the agitated female voice. "Look, just because you have no friends, doesn't mean you get to hog all of mine. Now give me the phone!!"

She could hear the mic of the phone being brushed and moved around. She could almost see the childish tussle erupting between the two. Cuddy had assigned Strikes because she knew her to be a level headed woman and a good nurse, but House had the unnatural ability to bring out the worst, most juvenile instinct in anybody. She had been a victim herself on more than one occasion.

"You're supposed to be sleeping!" "Well, you're supposed to be lacking in facial hair, being a woman and all, but I don't judge. You should learn to do the same!"

Cuddy pulled the receiver away from her ear as an ear splitting shriek erupted from the other line.

"Cuddy! You've left me with a banshee!! You can't do this to me!" Cuddy held a hand up to her face as she tried to hide a smile. "She can't do this to YOU? Oh, because you're in so much hurt over here." "Would you kindly shut your excessively overstuffed PIE HOLE and tell Cuddy that I would rather have my old nurse back?"

Cuddy snickered before saying "Mrs. Strikes, if you would inform Dr. House that I was, in fact, his last nurse, I would greatly appreciate it." Cuddy almost jumped out of her chair when she heard House's voice spoken directly into the other line. Strikes had obviously lost the battle.

"You? You call that nursing? Psst, you didn't even give me a sponge bath. I was really put out, you know?"

Somewhere in the background on House's end, Cuddy was sure she heard a door slam. She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Well, are you happy now, House? It sounds like you have sufficiently run off yet another nurse."

"Meh, I prefer my nurses to have a little less hair and fat… and substantially fewer clothes. You wouldn't happen to have any nurses on staff that look like the ones from General Hospital, would you? I could do with a good rub down… I mean sponge bath."

Cuddy rolled her eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me, and yes, you are that predictable."

"I wasn't rolling my eyes, and no, I'm sorry but we don't carry that brand of… service at this facility. They do have businesses with that sort of thing, though. I think there's one on 5th called Boobs, Boobs, Boobs. You should know the place well, I would imagine."

"I don't know what you're talking about… unless the place you're thinking of on 5th is actually called Boobs, Ass, and Titties, then I'm very familiar with it."

Cuddy began to rub her temples in an attempt to stave off the headache that was building. This may have seemed cute to him, but the game was quickly losing its charm as the reality of the situation hit her.

"House, you do know that we have a rather limited supply of nurses? The strike is barely over, and let us not forget that you have managed to build up a reputation amongst the ones who you have yet to run off. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get another one."

"Oh no! Whatever will I do, Dr. Cuddy? A poor cripple like myself couldn't possibly take the pressure of living on his own! Who will wipe my ass for me?"

Cuddy saw where this was going. He wanted someone to play with. As juvenile as that sounded, he always had to have some kind of attention. Usually it was Wilson who obliged this need, but with their relationship on the rocks, she had now been given runner-up privileges.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to make due by myself."

Cuddy let out another sigh.

"…All alone by myself."

"I don't know if you could tell, but I was avoiding your obvious plea for attention."

"You're right, I'll be just fine… Hey, by the way, Vicodin mixes well with Cocaine in head trauma cases, right?"

"House!"

"Alright, alright. I promise to be good, and rest… what about bourbon? Does it mix with bourbon?"

*****

House had been at his piano playing a soft jazz tune when the knock on his door came. He smiled to himself before grabbing his cane and heading for the door. It hadn't taken much prodding to get Cuddy to agree to come over. He didn't really know why he had done it. Part of him wanted to say it was for the challenge, to see if he could actually get her to do whatever he wanted, part of him just wanted a free meal, but part of him really was looking forward to the company.

He opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Cuddy holding two grocery bags full of food. He didn't even have time to speak before she thrust the bags in his face and stormed off into the living room. He looked down at his newly acquired packages. They were full of the ingredients for what looked like spaghetti.

"You know, take-out would have worked just fine."

Cuddy snorted as she took off her jacket and laid it down on the sofa.

"Yeah right, if I had brought take-out, you would have whined the whole night about how I don't even care about you enough to make you a home cooked meal, and then would have proceeded to tell me all of the harmful effects that take-out contains."

House shrugged. She had a point. That did sound quite like him.

"On the other hand, you do realize that this meal is going to be scrutinized constantly as you are making it, and while I'm eating it."

"But I'm willing to bet 10 bucks that you still eat every bite of what I make."

Again, right on the nose.

"Just so long as you know that you're in for a rough night… one way or the other."

He gave her a small suggestive wink, and was pleasantly surprised and intrigued by the small flourish of color that rose in her cheeks.

"And just so long as you know that you are the most incomparable bastard that I've ever know, then I think we're even."

House hobbled with the bags over to the kitchen.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Dr. Cuddy… skimpy underwear on the other hand…"

She glared at him as he set the bags on the counter. He simply responded with his most innocent smile and moved to the small table to sit down and observe. The stand off lasted for only a few more seconds before Cuddy caved and moved to the bags to begin cooking.

As she did, House couldn't help but notice the gentle sway of her hips as she moved. They were perfect. She was curved in all the right places, and tight in just the right way. The skirt she wore did wonders for her figure, and accentuated her already glorious back side.

The white blouse she wore was elegant. It was low in the front, but did not make her look like she was trying to reveal too much… despite what he normally implied with her wardrobe. As his eyes traveled over her front, he was rewarded with a glimpse of a white lace push up bra that peeked over the top of the top of her blouse when she moved in just the right way.

He had always found her attractive. There had never been any question about that, but most recently he was finding he wanted to be around her, simply for the company. She was quick. The fact that she seemed to be a willing sparing partner for his wit appealed greatly to his intelligence. She was funny also. He was never far away from a good chuckle when he was around her. But possibly the most fascinating thing about her, which he had only discovered recently, was her trust.

She would trust him to a fault, and that fascinated him more than anything else she had to offer.

"Where are the pots?"

"Hmm?"

"The pots, House. You know, for boiling water, cooking sauce…storing extra pills?"

"Oh, umm, the cabinet under the sink behind you."

Cuddy turned her back toward him and located the cabinet he was talking about. As she squatted down to retrieve the cooking material, House's grip on his cane got a little tighter. He smiled as a small glimmer of lacy white fabric peeked out from the top of her skirt. He had always known that she liked to match.

****

She could feel the intent look of his eyes on her as she began to fill the pot with warm water. He had been staring at her keenly from the moment she had begun to prepare the food. She noted that it was a credit to her concentration that she was able to hold the heavy pot without her shaking hands becoming an issue.

"So, then you're a lesbian now, or what?"

"WHAT!?"

As she turned to stare at him in disbelief, she dropped the pot in the sink, spilling the water.

"Well, I noticed that you haven't gone out with anyone in the last few months. Now, either you've stopped looking, or you've started looking for something that I'm not noticing."

She turned her back to him and retrieved the dropped pot.

"I'm not having this conversation with you, House."

He raised an eyebrow with sudden intrigue.

"Oh, so then you are hiding something from me. What is it? You've decided to undergo that sex change operation you've heard so much about?"

"Gasp! How did you guess?" Cuddy responded sarcastically.

"Fine, then tell me. Why aren't you dating?"

"Did it ever occur to you that the reason I'm not dating is that YOU run off every guy that I get remotely close to?"

As she responded, she set the pot back under the faucet and began to refill it.

"Even guys I'm NOT dating! Remember Wilson? You were so disturbed by the idea of us POSSIBLY dating that you sent fake flowers to him in my name!"

"So he told you about that, did he?" House asked with a quirked eyebrow.

With the pot full, she walked it slowly over to the stove as she spoke.

"So I guess the real question is, why don't you want me seeing other people, House?"

The question had actually been on her mind for sometime. It was true that she hadn't gone out with anyone in a rather extended period of time, and it wasn't because of a lack of offers. Part of what she said was true, she did worry about House messing up another one of her dates if she ever actually accepted one, but she was also worried about House messing things up in a completely different way… a way he was completely unaware of.

House studied her carefully for a moment. She tried her best to look steadfast and resolute in an attempt to not be thrown off of this question. He had dodged it before. This time she would go to almost any measure to make sure it was answered.

He finally gave and idle shrug and answered.

"Probably because if you ever got into a relationship I'd have an angry boyfriend to deal with, instead of just your empty threats of a sexual harassment suit."

Cuddy sighed as she pulled out a knife, cutting board, and one of the tomatoes she had bought at the market.

"That's not the answer and you know it, House. Just tell me. I promise I won't be mad."

"Fine, it's actually because I'll have no one to annoy if you get taken up."

"House,"

"No? maybe it's because I think you'll let yourself go and get fat after you finally land you a man."

"House!"

"Not buying it? Ok, it's probably because I have mommy issues and always need somebody around to tell me what I'm doing wrong, and with you gone, I'll have to turn to Cameron or Thirteen, and you know that won't go over well."

"HOUSE!"

"Cuddy what do you want from me!"

"Honesty! It's the least I'd do for you. I just want you to trust me."

That silenced him. He sat staring at her. She began to grow more aware of the intensity of his look. His eyes looked like they were about to see right through her. They scanned every part of her face looking for an answer, a response, something. She felt her face go slightly flushed as he continued his study of her. She noticed as his eyes made a slow, subtle progression from her face down her neck, and then lightly over her body. She felt electricity streaking through her as his eyes finally settled back on her own.

As if coming to a decision, he turned his head slightly away as he spoke.

"I guess it's because I just don't want you to end up with the wrong guy… that's all."

Cuddy was stunned. He was being honest. This was House actually being honest, and not only that, but he seemed to have a deep concern for her. If Cuddy's face had been pink before, it matched the color of the uncut tomato she was still holding in her hand.

She hurriedly looked down at her project and began to chop the tomato. It gave her something to do, something to focus her mind, and keep her thoughts from going 30 directions at once.

"Well, I appreciate it, House, but I am a big strong girl. I think I can make decisions for myself."

"Yes, because we've all seen how well you've gotten along in that department without the help of others."

"Oh, so you're telling me that you don't think that Wilson is a good guy?"

"I think he's a wonderful guy, but that doesn't imply he's the best husband around, now does it?"

"Well, that may be, but some of those guys you didn't even give a…"

"What are you doing?"

She looked up at him in confusion. He was looking at her chopping. She looked down at her partially chopped tomato.

"… Ummm, well in America, we call this…chopping…a…tomato."

He rolled his eyes at her sarcasm, and stood up using his cane for support. He made his way to the counter where she stood as he spoke.

"Thank you Captain Obvious, I'm not stupid, but I'll have you know THAT is not chopping a tomato. That is what I like to call BUTCHERING a tomato."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You can't be serious."

"Look, if I'm going to have to eat your food then I might as well enjoy it. You're supposed to dice tomatoes for spaghetti, not mush them into a paste."

"Oh, forgive me your majesty. I forgot that you only eat the caviar and foie gras. I will remember next time to not sully your food with my peasant filth."

"Don't be angry because you can't cook. Here," he handed her a new tomato. "Start over, try to dice this time."

She gave him a sardonic look as she did as he requested. After a few chops she was stopped again.

"Stop, STOP!! Pull the blade to you as you cut. Like this."

He stepped behind her, and grabbed the hand that held the blade. House had grabbed her hand with purpose, but as soon as their skin touched, he slowed. She tried to tell herself his slowed movement was because she was holding a knife, but the measured, slightly labored breath on the side of her neck told her otherwise.

She closed her eyes as he slowly worked her hand. After a few slices, House spoke again, but his voice was low, in a whisper.

"There, I think that's better… don't you."

She could hardly think at all. He had moved in close so as to not lose control of the knife. His chest was grazing her back lightly. His hand was warm and strong as it encircled her own. But his face next to her ear was what was keeping her entranced. His breath was on her neck again. The same way it had been in the hospital ICU, but this time she knew the reaction she felt was more than relief he was out of the coma.

Her body twitched and ached for him to touch her. She could feel herself willing his other hand onto her body. She wanted him to hold her, to feel her, to caress her. She felt his face moving closer to her own. He breathed out slowly onto the side of her neck so gently it feigned its own small caress. She shivered. There was no way she could have known for sure, but she was certain she saw his lips curve into a small smile with the involuntary movement.

She turned her head a fraction to look at him. His lids were low, and his eyes looked on fire behind the bedroom demeanor of his lashes. She had been right. The smile was small, but it was still perched on his lips. He looked breath taking. She almost lost control of her legs as he finally reached his other hand up to her face.

He slowly lifted it and brought it to her hairline where he pushed away a few pieces of her hair in order to get a better look at her face. As his hand finished circling her ear in the final maneuver that pushed back the stray locks, he pulled it slowly back toward her face, tracing her jaw line as he made his way slowly, and surely to her lips….

When the phone rang she thought she had jumped completely out of her skin. He turned from her and made his way to the phone. With the loss of his warmth she felt suddenly cold and bereft. She could have killed whoever was on the other line.

She watched House pick up the phone and mutter a gruff, "Hello?" He suddenly straightened. Cuddy was able to make out the sound of a male voice on the other line before House responded. "…Wilson?"


	4. Chapter 4

ch 4

House had been ready to strangle a telemarketer with their own cord as he walked over to the ringing phone. He had lost all sense of judgment standing behind Cuddy, holding her hand, caressing her face, breathing in deeply the faint sent of vanilla that wafted from her hair. It had been a small taste of heaven that he was sure would have escalated had he not been so rudely interrupted.

Although he was undeniably angry at that moment, part of him was grateful for the interruption. Was this truly what she had wanted? Was HE really what she wanted? Or had she simply been swept up in the emotion of the past few days? She had almost lost him. Was this simply leftover relief that she hadn't lost a friend?

After all House's ranting about finding a man who was good enough for her, he was not about to say that he was that man. He knew he was no prize. Cuddy deserved much better than him, and he knew it. He also knew that if he was this confused about the situation, then Cuddy had to be equally confused, and he would be damned if he forced her into something that she was unsure of. He was sick… but not that sick.

As he angrily picked up the phone, he made his decision. He had chased off men before, he could do it again, even if that meant chasing off himself.

"Hello?" He grumbled into the receiver. It was a little more callous than he had intended, but he was feeling a little more callous than he had intended as well. It nearly floored him when he heard the familiar male voice.

"… House? ...It's me…"

House felt like a building had just landed on him. He hadn't exactly been sure if he was ever going to hear this voice again, but here it was. He struggled with his voice for a few seconds before he was finally able to utter,

"…Wilson?"

"…Yeah… um, I wasn't bothering you, was I?"

House paused for a second and then turned to look at Cuddy. She was watching him with a look of concern, having obviously deduced who was on the other line. Busy? He wasn't sure he could actually call it that.

"No, not really. Why? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… I just… need to talk to you. But, not over the phone. Can you meet me?"

House turned his head meaningfully at Cuddy before repeating,

"Hmm can I find a ride to meet you somewhere…let me think."

Cuddy looked at him for a few seconds before nodding.

"I've got a ride. When and where do you want me to meet you?"

"Williamson Park by the river near the picnic area at 7. You sure you can make it?"

"I'll be there."

As he gently set the phone back down on its hook, he couldn't help but wonder. What did Wilson want? Was this the visit were Wilson would finally end their friendship? Did Wilson just want to see House so he could punch him in the face? Or was this actually an attempt to reach out?

House wasn't sure he could take the loss of his best friend. He had dealt with pain in the past. The crippling of his leg had left him deep emotional wounds, and Stacy's divorce had been even worse. If he were to lose his oldest and best friend… he didn't know if he would be able to take a blow like that after all he'd been through with Amber.

The simple thought of Amber retched up idea he had been trying to stave off. Thoughts about whose fault her death was. Thoughts that maybe it should have been him to die… that maybe it should still be him to die.

Suddenly, he felt a warm hand on his arm. He looked for its source, and found Cuddy looking at him with a concerned expression, like she had been reading his mind. She had become good at that recently.

"It's going to be OK, you know that right?"

He didn't respond immediately. He stared at her for a few seconds, pain barely masked on his face. Her's was gentle, and caring… caring about him. Thought of her caring at all about someone like him was more than he could take. He turned his face away from her.

"Everything will be alright in the end… if it's not alright, it's not the end."

He turned back to give her a sardonic look for the corny little quip she had spouted. She simply responded to his look with another smile. He could tell she was trying to get him to retort… that was the normal state of things, and if he wasn't retorting than he wasn't alright.

The thought made him smile again. She was trying to make him feel better, trying to make him forget about what was to come, and he was grateful. She had been wonderful through this whole ordeal, and he felt overwhelmed.

Before he could stop himself, he reached around her shoulder with his unoccupied arm and pulled her into a deep embrace. He could tell that she had been startled, but he detected no sign of resistance as he held her. As he felt her relax into his arms, he smiled and let his head fall to her shoulder. He breathed in her sent and treasured it, the small trace of vanilla and something floral… jasmine? He couldn't tell, but he could have stayed in that nook on her shoulder all night.

But, he knew that he couldn't. He didn't deserve her.

He pulled away before saying.

"So, you are as easy as Wilson and Chase said you were,"

She narrowed his eyes at him. He simply smiled back.

"We'd better get going. Don't want to keep your star Oncologist waiting."

And with that he turned and headed to the door, hoping like hell that she couldn't see the pain on his face.

****

"OH MY GOD! You drive like an old woman! Hurry up!"

"Maybe if you got out and pushed we'd get their faster… in fact I think you should just get out period."

"But then who will be here to give you such lovely conversation?"

He said while batting his eyes. She rolled hers.

"Hey, need I remind you that I didn't have to drive you to your little play date. I could have made you suffer."

"Yes, but then I would have made you suffer in return, so we both know that this was mutually beneficial."

"House! Can't you just admit for one second that someone is actually doing something nice for you?"

"… Cuddy pull over here."

"Wait, what? I didn't really mean for you to get out when I said that."

He gave her a glance before saying,

"No, no. Pull over at this coffee shop on the corner. I need to pick up something."

"… You're not serious. You know that Wilson is probably waiting for you."

"Just pull over."

She obliged, but not happily. She waited in the car as house picked up coffee and what appeared to be a fresh made honey bun. Cuddy piped up as he climbed back into the car.

"You know I still planned on cooking once we got back."

"Can we get to the park?"

"Are we going to need to stop at the Krispy Kreme also?"

She asked sarcastically.

"Only if you want to feed that already bulbous bottom."

He gave her a wicked grin as she sighed and put the car into gear. It took them less than 10 minutes to get to the park from the coffee shop. Cuddy parked in the lot right behind the playground. Through the jungle gym and beyond the grass behind, House and Cuddy could see Wilson leaning against the railing by the river. He was watching the sun set over the water. Cuddy looked at House.

"I'll wait in the car."

He nodded his head slowly before responding.

"Thank you."

As she opened her mouth to say a few words of encouragement, House opened the door and got out bringing the coffee and the bag that contained the honey bun. She was surprised to see that he hadn't eaten any of it. Then it hit her. There was, in fact, a honey bun connoisseur at the hospital, and it wasn't House. She smiled to herself as she sat back in her chair.

****

House approached his friend slowly. Wilson didn't acknowledge House, but simply stared out over the water. He leaned over the railing, clasping his hands together. When House was a mere 5 feet away, Wilson finally spoke slowly without looking at House.

"This was where I took Amber on our first date."

Wilson smiled gently to himself. House joined his friend at his side and assumed a very similar position holding the bag and cup over the rail as he leaned and looked out at the setting sun. The light dazzled the water and a breeze lightly licked at House's hair. Wilson spoke again.

"We had a picnic under that big tree a little up the hill and then we watched the sun set just like this and talked… I had been thinking about proposing to her you know… I would have done it right here."

The two men continued to avoid eye contact.

"So… you called me out here to propose to me instead?"

House wasn't sure if he should have jumped too quickly into his usual glib, but he figured that if he couldn't now… then he was never going to be able to. House was pleasantly surprised when Wilson chuckled and shook his head. They stood in silence for a few more seconds.

"…I wanted to hate you." Wilson said.

Wilson finally looked at House as he spoke. House didn't know what to say.

"I wanted to hate you. I wanted to be able to pin this hurt on something. I wanted to find a reason. I wanted there to be something to hate, something for me to be angry with. So I wanted to hate you."

House didn't speak.

"But I couldn't. Not because I knew that it wasn't your fault… which I do by the way."

House let out a small sigh of relief. He was finally able to look at Wilson, and what he saw tore him apart. Wilson's eyes were watering as he spoke, and House could hear the distinct sound of his larynx enflaming with emotion. He was getting choked up.

"But because, I knew I needed my best friend to get though this."

A small tear slid down the side of his face, and Wilson let out a sob as he said.

"Oh god, House. I miss her."

He let his head sink low as he began to faintly sob. House didn't speak. He stood in silence and let his friend cry. It was all he could do for him, and they both knew it. Slowly Wilson began to calm down. House nudged Wilson's arms with the bag. Wilson looked up as he dried his face and finally noticed the bag and coffee House was extending to him. Wilson looked slightly puzzled as House said.

"They're your favorite."

Wilson took the coffee and bag and took a glance at the honey bun. When he didn't say anything for a few seconds House said.

"It was on the way."

Wilson finally smiled slightly.

"A peace offering I take it?"

House smiled in return.

"Something like that."

House's smile slowly faded, and he turned his eyes back to the dying light on the water.

"… it should have been me."

Wilson didn't say anything.

"Not a day goes by that I don't think that. Part of me just wants to be alone so that I can make that happen… but the other half of me realizes that I can't be alone because I want to make that happen. I think Cuddy knows it, too."

He finished with a small laugh.

"I guess that's why she doesn't leave me alone."

Wilson took a small bite out of the bun.

"Well, It wasn't you, House, and if you go now then… I'll be alone."

He swallowed the bite slowly before looking at him.

"I need you right now… if I didn't then I wouldn't be talking to you."

House smiled slightly before looking back over the water.

"I guess I'll just have to stick around to take care of your worthless butt then, won't I?"

Wilson responded with a small smile of his own before saying,

"I suppose you're right."

The two men watched the rest of the sunset in silence. Neither really needing to speak, but both experiencing a feeling of relief so profound that they couldn't have been happier at this point.

****

Later that night

"But Mommy, I don't want to go to bed."

House barely caught the pillow that was thrown at his face in response.

"What part of HEAD TRAUMA do you not understand? You need rest, and come hell or high water, you are going to get some."

"So then throwing pillows at my head will surely make the head trauma better, right?"

"I…"

"Exactly, so why don't we all just admit that you're always wrong, and then we'll go back in the den and watch some tv until we pass out. Sound fun?"

"House, I'm not leaving until you get into the bed. You're already half way there. You're in sweats and a t-shirt and the bed has been turned down. Just get in!"

"You're really going to try a stand off with me?"

"With this, yes I will. Because I know that you will get tired eventually, and if you fall asleep at all, I win. If I fall asleep, no big deal."

She was right. House looked at her grudgingly before he finally rested his cane on the bedside table, and began to crawl into bed. Cuddy smirked before House retorted,

"So, are you going to tuck me in?"

"Good night, House."

She began to walk out the room when she heard,

"Not even a bed time story?"

"Good night! House."

"Fine, fine."

She tried to shut the door again before she heard,

"Where will you be?"

Cuddy rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Where do you think? On the couch."

"It's a big bed, you know?"

"House…"

"I'm just saying, that couch is mighty uncomfortable."

"I'm not sleeping with you, House."

"Who said anything about sleeping with me? I just meant for you to lie in bed next to me."

"That's what I meant!! Ugh, I'm not playing this game."

As she began to close the door for a third time she heard House again.

"Wait, wait, Cuddy really."

"What, House!? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just ignore you?"

House was quiet for a second as he looked at Cuddy. He slowly responded in his most serious tone.

"…stay."

Cuddy was baffled. Did he really mean this? Why would he want to sleep with her? Besides the obvious reason of course.

"Why? I'm right outside the door."

House looked at her again for a few more seconds before turning his head away slowly. Cuddy couldn't help but notice his expression was slightly pained.

"I just…wanted some company. I didn't think I should be alone… But, you're right. It would be weird."

House rolled over onto his side and pulled his pillow up to him. He waited for the sound of the door to close, but was instead surprised to hear Cuddy sigh and say,

"Move over."

He obliged immediately, and made room. She threw off her shoes, but noticeably left her other clothes on as she crawled in.

"One move, House, and I'm gone!" She said sternly.

House nodded his head sincerely. She turned on her side and closed her eyes. House watched her for a few more minutes before he too rolled over and closed his eyes. He did his best to hide the smile of happiness that was on his face as he moved. That faint scent of vanilla and jasmine was wafting towards him, and he felt comforted.

*****

Cuddy heard the sound of waves. As she slowly opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of the ocean. She was in a hotel room looking out at a patio with a white beach and crystal clear water. There was not a soul in sight on the beach, just the sound of waves, the sway of palm trees and the smell of the sweet salty air.

She walked toward the sliding glass door that led out to the patio. As she opened the door, a breeze blew the billowy white skirt she had on. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, falling in sexy curls around the fitted white tank top she had on. She closed the door behind her and walked passed the empty lounge chairs on the patio and stepped off onto the beach.

She only took a few steps and marveled at the feel of the sand between her toes. The sun was warm as she closed her eyes and let the sensations overcome her. She was perfectly serene. She was sure that nothing could have made her happier… well, almost nothing.

"I hope your lack of underwear is for my benefit."

She nearly jumped out of her skin, and turned to see where the voice was coming from. On the patio, in one of the previously empty chairs, was House. He was lounging lazily with his cane resting against a nearby table, and was staring at her adamantly. She felt her face go red with her lack of response, and her breathing started to grow slightly more rapid.

He seemed to notice all of this as his smile widened to an almost wicked look. He pulled his cane to him, uncrossed his legs and hoisted himself up. She seemed rooted to the spot she stood on as he slowly made his way to where she stood.

The wind blew at his white button-up shirt, and khaki slacks. With each step he took, he seemed to be sizing her up, and she felt as if she was under a spot light, as though his looks could see right through to her thoughts… which were hovering around the slight bulge pulling at his loose pants.

By the time he reached her, Cuddy was sure that her color could rival that of the devil himself. She was flushed and her breath was intense, facts which House seemed to notice immediately… facts which seemed to please him greatly.

He stood a mere foot away from her. He watched her as if he was trying to remember each contour of her face. All she could do was stare back at him with her lips parted slightly with her deep breaths. Even with the skirt and top, she felt naked under his gaze, a fact that brought every part of her body to heated attention.

The wind blew a lock of hair into her face, and right on cue House reached up to push it away, as if he wanted nothing obstructing his view of her face. He smiled when she didn't shy from his touch. In fact, she closed her eyes slightly at the immediate touch, but looked back into his eyes as he began to caress the side of her face.

His smile only widened at this. The touch slowly changed from a slight caress of the fingers to a full palm, and slowly she began to feel him pull her face towards his. He brushed her lips gently. She could have melted with the tenderness of the gesture. He didn't pull away. He waited for her reaction, and as he saw her willingness, he pulled her in again for a deeper kiss.

His lips were soft and warm. They pulled at hers gently as the hand that had been on her face moved to her shoulder. She felt herself leaning into the kiss with a need she had not been previously aware of. He simply obliged and parted his lips. She responded with equal eagerness.

Both of his hands were on her now. One was on her back, holding the cane as well, and the other was lightly caressing the back of her head. Her hands were on his chest, grabbing at the cloth of his shirt. She felt the hand at the back of her head slowly move down to her shoulder toward her breasts. He lightly grazed his hand over the side of her right breast, letting his thumb fall over her taut nipple.

She let out a small gasp against his mouth, and she felt him smile against her lips. He slowly broke the kiss and looked at her intently. Her lips were wet and swollen from the kiss, and she was breathing deeply.

"Maybe we should go inside."

He asked in little over a whisper. All she could do was nod her head as they began to turn back to the room. Cuddy blinked and they were suddenly in the room. She looked around the room and noticed that they were on either side of the bed. House had lost his shirt, and she noticed that she had lost her skirt. She was in nothing but a tank top and the sheer underwear House had not seen through the skirt.

He watched her as he slowly began to climb onto the bed. She couldn't help but admire the sexy movement of his shirtless body as he crawled. She followed shortly afterward. They met at the center of the bed, and renewed the kiss that had been postponed on the beach.

Cuddy slowly felt herself being lowered onto the bed. House followed and gently began to trace kisses down her neck. She let out soft gasps as he went. When he reached the top of her shirt he gently lifted it over her head and discarded it on the floor. She felt his mouth fall on one of her taught nipples and when he pulled her into his mouth, she let out a moan.

As he sucked, his other hand was at work on her other nipple, playing with it and tracing circles around it. She felt pools of heat begin to form in her underwear, and as if House knew her thoughts, he began to move his hand down her belly. With his mouth still working her breast, he slipped his hand inside her underwear.

She moaned loudly as one of his fingers slipped between her folds. As he felt her wet heat, he moaned softly against her. She could feel his erection pressing hard against her leg, straining against the material of his pants. He slowly ran his finger up and down her fold feeling all of her.

She was getting hotter by the second, and when entered her with a finder, she thought she would lose it. He finally relinquished his hold on her nipple, and moved to pull off her panties. He threw them aside. His hand returned to its previous task, but his mouth decided to take a new course.

He began by kissing her stomach, and slowly started moving down. He traced a line with his tongue and stopped only so that he could part her legs a little more for him. When his mouth engulfed her hips shot up. She was moaning senselessly now. His fingers were working her hole, and his tongue was dancing around her clit.

She could feel the waves of heat building in her stomach as she got close to her climax. She looked down at House and said

"Oh god, House! I'm close!"

On cue, he pushed another finger inside of her. She threw her head back onto the pillow as she moaned loudly. Her fingers gripped the sheets in a death grip as he pumped her steadily to her peak. Her climax suddenly began to grip her and she shouted.

"Greg! Oh god, Greg! I'm coming!"

She felt her body spasm around his hand, and her orgasm slowly began to fade. She felt him crawl up to her side. He stared into her eyes, and Cuddy knew that she was feeling more for him than a simple sexual attraction.

"Cuddy!"

The bedroom scene began to spin.

"Cuddy, wake up!"

She opened her eyes and found herself back in House's bed… exactly where she wanted to be.

****

House had woken to the sound of Cuddy moaning in her sleep. He gently shook her and said her name a few times to wake her. He watched as she gently lifted her eyes to him. When her eyes finally came into focus, she smiled at him. He found the expression a little interesting, but ignored it.

"You were moaning in your sleep."

She simply looked at him rather dazed and said

"Just a dream…"

"A nightmare?"

She giggled a little and shook her head. This really intrigued House, but again he ignored it. She yawned and began to move towards him. Before he could stop her, she was curled into the crook of his arm and her breathing was evening out.

"Just a dream…"

He looked down at the beautiful woman asleep with her arms around him and began to wonder. What kind of dream makes a person moan in their sleep, but wake up in a really good mood? He smiled at the answer and let his arm fold over her shoulder. He would have to tease her in the morning, but in the mean time, he would simply let the feel and smell of her lull him to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

ch 5

Wilson pulled into his usual spot in the parking lot. He was early today. He had always been early to work, but after Amber died it had become an obsession with him. If he wasn't there early then he wouldn't go at all.

He had made a small habit of sitting in his car for a few minutes, drinking his coffee, and listening to the radio before he built up the courage to face what was left of his life at the hospital. It was a nice time for him. He was out of the apartment, which he knew was a good thing, and he had some quiet time to think…and remember.

The last few weeks had been extremely painful for him. Everytime he turned around in that apartment, something else reminded him of Amber. Bits of her spirit were everywhere, from the bed that they bought together, to her favorite cereal that had taken Wilson a few weeks to notice wasn't getting eaten, to her unfinished book that lay still open on the table.

It had taken him a long time, but Wilson slowly managed to get rid of her old things. Things that were superfluous, her clothes, her toiletries, were easy to get rid of, but the rest had not been so easy. It had taken Wilson a full week to decide if he wanted to keep an old handkerchief of hers that had been worn thin with use. It was in a box in the closet.

Slowly, Wilson began the less than pleasant process of turning off the car so that he could actually start the day. He pulled the keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the car. As he did he ran straight into a figure he hadn't seen pushing him back against the car, and knocking her on the ground.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," said Wilson as he reached to help up the young woman. She had fallen face foreword, but didn't seem to be hurt. As he pulled her up he made note of her white lab coat and her long coffee hair. "No, no, it was my fault," she said as she brushed her pants off and turned to look at him. "I wasn't paying attention. I've had something on my mind recently."

Wilson got a full blast of the most fascinating dark blue eyes to complement her coffee hair.

"…Dr. Wilson?"

It took him half a second to realize that he still had his hand on the arm he had used to help her up before he snatched it away, but not before he felt a rush of color go to his cheeks.

"Ah, sorry. I just didn't recognize you Dr. Hadley…took me a second to get my bearings I guess." Wilson chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. She returned his laughter with a smile.

"Just call me Thirteen. As degrading as it is, that's what everyone around here calls me anyway. You might as well also."

"Really? You want to be called Thirteen?"

"It's almost a badge, actually. I know that isn't what House meant for it to be, but once you get to know him, that's exactly what he does. By forcing you as far away as possible he brings you closer."

Wilson's smile with more than understanding.

"You're speaking to the master. I have personally spent years of research in the field of Houseism and come up with quite similar conclusions."

Her eyes sparkled with amusement before suddenly turning darker. She looked at him with concern, and before she even opened her mouth Wilson spoke.

"I'm fine… We're fine. House and I had a talk the other night, and I think things will be back to usual… or unusual… whichever."

Thirteen didn't look entirely convinced. He held out his hands in submission.

"Honest! We're on speaking terms again… I think we'll be fine."

"I more worried about you, Wilson. It hasn't even been a full month yet. Are you sure you're going to be all right?"

Wilson paused. She could see the barely hidden grief darken his usually bright puppy eyes. He turned his head away from her slowly as he spoke.

"It's… been hard…I'm not going to say that it hasn't, but Amber would have wanted me to go on doing what I do, and living my life."

He turned back to her and smiled. His smile was a sad one, but one full of hope. She knew he would be alright, eventually. It might take some time, but she knew that he would heal. She gently rubbed his arm with sympathy.

Their moment was broken suddenly by a car that pulled up ahead of them and parked in the Dean of Medicine's spot. It was Cuddy's. But the surprising thing was who was with her. Thirteen and Wilson watched Cuddy and House get out of the car foaming at the mouth trying to get at each other's throats.

"I don't know why I even let you come into work today!!"

"I would have made your life hell and you know it."

"You already make my life hell!"

"Oh, and you've been such a peach this past week! I can't get a decent night's sleep with you snoring like a gorilla with a deviated septum!"

"I don't snore. You're such a liar!"

Wilson and Thirteen somehow found themselves following the pair toward the doors of the hospital. House and Cuddy seemed oblivious to their presence, and continued on their destructive path. People stepped out of their way anxiously as the two moved closer to the sliding glass doors.

"Oh PLEASE!! I thought North Korea had finally bombed us last night! I dove for cover under the bed when you made the WIDOWS SHAKE!!!"

"Well, at least I don't drool when I sleep! I felt like I needed to wear a bathing suit just to be in that bed!"

"You know, no one is MAKING you be in that bed, woman!"

"Oh PULEAZE!! You cry like a three year old girl every time I made the smallest mention of going to sleep on the couch, House!"

"Hey, it's not my fault that you can't resist my charms. I mean when it's so completely obvious that you're attracted to me."

Wilson noticed Cuddy go slightly redder at that comment. Whether or not it was from anger was an entirely different story.

"You're right, House" She retorted sarcastically. "I mean come on, who could resist a TOTAL stud muffin like yourself?"

House's eyes slightly narrowed.

"Oh, you didn't know? I'm also a masochist who LOVES misogynistic men. They're simply dreeeeamy." Said Cuddy as she batted her lashed annoyingly.

"Look, your whips and chains fetish is none of my business. What IS my business, however, is the fact that your elephant like trumpeting every night has kept me up to the point were I can't function as a good doctor."

"Funny, I never thought of you as a good doctor." Said Cuddy with a slight glib

"Well, I never thought of you as a woman who snores and has sex dreams quite regularly, but who am I to judge what you do with your personal life?" House retorted with quirk in his lip.

Cuddy looked aghast. She stood there for a few seconds staring unbelievingly at House before she turned away in a huff and continued toward the hospital entrance. She appeared to be fighting for a comeback before she stopped abruptly before the sliding glass doors. House looked at her with a smug look a triumph waiting for a reply that he could throw back in her face.

Cuddy didn't look at him for a few seconds, but a content smile began to spread across her face. She turned to him lightly before saying, "Two words,"

She paused for dramatic affect. House's eyebrows furrowed in a look of confusion as he tried to think of what she was going to say. Slowly, knowing began to spread over his well sculpted face. He opened his mouth to protest something, but she beat him to the punch, lightly.

"Morning…Wood…"

House stared at her in disbelief as she smugly walked past him through the sliding glass doors. His mouth hung open as he watched her pass, and as the doors began to close behind her, she reached out and caught them preventing them closing before adding, "Oh yes, I seem to have forgotten to mention the fact that you have 4 hours of clinic duty today." She faked an expression of apology before letting her hand off the door. She muttered rather audibly as she walked away, "hmm, silly me."

He stared after her dumbly for a few seconds before he charged the doors. They opened to the main entrance lobby, and Wilson and Thirteen watched as House began to bellow in front of many waiting patients and staff, "NO, I WILL NOT SLEEP WITH YOU WHILE I'M AT WORK, DR. CUDDY!!!" Wilson cringed as House leaned into a nearby witness and muttered, "Pre-menopausal women these days, want sex whenever and wherever they can get it." And with that the sliding doors shut.

Wilson and Thirteen stood in stunned silence just outside the doors. Wilson finally brought up a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, while Thirteen finally began to stammer.

"Did he…" she began

"Are they…" he continued

The two finally looked at each other before saying, "…sleeping together?"

"Cuddy would never… well… SLEEP… with House." Wilson responded rather quickly.

"And House would never… you know… with Cuddy! I mean, he's a perv but I don't think there's anything really there… do you?" Thirteen replied.

Wilson rolled his eyes. "Please, House has been into Cuddy for years, but his pride would never allow him to actually admit it. Especially not if she didn't feel the same way, and CERTAINLY not in front of other people. But, Cuddy is smarter than to go for a guy like House… isn't she?"

Thirteen put her hand over her mouth as she thought. "I'm not so sure. Cuddy did blush when House made that 'You like me' comment." She replied. The two fell silent for a minute before Thirteen continued, "Either way, what was all that business about the snoring! That means that even if their not 'sleeping' together, then they must be sleeping together."

Wilson shrugged his shoulders. "I guess they must be." He let out an exasperated sigh. "What is it with those two and their pride? Why don't they both admit that they have a thing for each other and get it over with? It would save us all, a lot of hassle."

Wilson watched as Thirteen smiled and let out a most becoming giggle. She looked up at him sweetly before saying, "Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" She gave him a small smile. Wilson felt his cheeks flush slightly, and he couldn't help but look away. She was just so cute.

"Of course we can't forget the fact that they may still be lying to themselves of course." Thirteen continued.

"Oh yes, that would be just like House." Wilson said exasperatedly. He messaged his shoulders as if getting ready for a marathon... or more likely a huge pain in the neck.

"And it's not to far of a stretch for Cuddy, either. They really are a lot similar then they let on, aren't they?" retorted Thirteen.

Wilson nodded slightly. The two doctors had finally begun to walk into the hospital together. Thirteen watched as Wilson's handsome face contorted into a look of concentration. She had always thought he was so beautiful when he pulled his brows down like that. It brought out the line of his jaw so well.

Wilson turned and looked at her, and as she quickly realized her staring, she looked away. The two finally reached the elevator at the back of the lobby. Wilson pushed the up button before saying.

"You know what? You're right."

"I am?" Asked Thirteen in confusion.

"Yeah, those two are almost perfect for each other." A smile was beginning to play on Wilson's lips.

"Oh God, what does that look mean?" Thirteen asked as the two of them stepped onto the elevator together.

Wilson looked at her mischievously before saying, "Only that I think it's our turn to have a little bit of fun with House."

And with that, the elevator doors closed.


	6. Chapter 6

ch 6

House sat at the desk in his office. That woman was on his mind again. It seemed that since he had let her into his bed, he had thought of nothing else. Her scent still clung to the crook of his arm where she usually ended up most nights. Neither of the two really intended for her to end up there, but it seemed she always did, just the same.

Who did that woman think she was anyway? Making him so focused on such a trivial issue, it was inexcusable. Not to mention the fact that she wouldn't own up to her silly crush. That was the fact that infuriated him the most.

It was so obvious that she liked him. Why wouldn't she just admit it? And why did the fact that she wouldn't admit it make him so angry? It was probably better that she didn't, for the hospital's sake. It was painfully obvious what would happen if they were to get together. It would start off wonderfully, but sooner or later one or both of them would get sick of the other and then the abuse would truly begin.

…So why did it bother him?

He needed a distraction. That was all. House grabbed the tennis ball that sat on his desk and began lobbing it at the wall. The repetitive motion helped. He began to think of some reason to bug Wilson today, as well. Anything to get out of his newly acquired clinic duty… and get his mind off of Cuddy.

Just as an excuse was beginning to form in his head to go see Wilson, the object of his attentions walked into the room. House caught the tennis ball and eyed his friend skeptically.

"That's interesting." House mused.

"What? I walked into a room. Now that's fascinating?" Retorted Wilson with a small eye roll.

"No, you walked into this room. You would never purposefully seek me out unless you needed me for something, which is extremely rare when I am not on a case, or unless you didn't want me seeking you out… which is quite interesting."

House placed the tennis ball back on the desk, linked his fingers, and looked up at Wilson with interest. As expected, Wilson's face betrayed a hint of shock before he quickly recomposed himself. House smiled knowingly, but continued to wait for a response.

Wilson held up his hands in mock astonishment, "Oh deary dear, the wisest man in the world seems to have figured out my brilliant plot! How could he have possibly known that I was hiding something!"

Wilson let out an exaggerated sigh and plopped into the chair nearest the door. "Now I have to go hide that cocaine I was planning to smuggle out of the country, and the fact that I was going to ask someone out so soon after my girlfriend's death, and…"

"You're going to ask someone out?!" House blurted out. He let his jaw drop and turned his to the side in thought.

"That… That was sarcasm House, I thought you of all people would be able to tell…"

"It's got to be someone at the hospital or else you wouldn't try to put me off the trail. Which lends itself to believe that it's someone I know." House rambled.

"House… House it's… it's called sarcasm!" Wilson responded, a hint of desperation in his tone.

"Let's see… there's that new nurse with the huge boobs. Nah, way to easy. Hmm, probably someone relatively close…" House leaned back in his chair thoughtfully, with his intertwined fingers pressed to his lips. He suddenly sat back up. "It's Thirteen isn't it! That would fit all criteria! You wouldn't want me to know about it, she's someone I know, and she's the damsel in distress! Exactly your type!"

Wilson looked truly taken aback before stammering "Wha… NO! no! She's… no, I'm not asking Thirteen out." He stated before quickly adding, "OR ANY GIRL!"

"You're asking her to the Christmas gala, aren't you?" said House with a sneer.

"Damnit, House! I'm not asking Thirteen out!"

House's facial expression fell a little. He slowly sat back in his chair before responding.

"Then who are you asking?"

Wilson was silent for a second. He suddenly found the side table next to his chair quite fascinating as he pondered his answer.

"Well, If you MUST know," Wilson began "you were right about the Christmas gala."

House promptly put his most smug expression on his face while waiting for Wilson's answer. Poor predictable Wilson, It was almost too easy to see when he had a girl on the brain, House thought. Of course, House actually thought it was a great idea for Wilson to get out into the field again, but he would never tell Wilson that.

Whichever cute little nurse Wilson was planning to ask didn't matter. House was still going to bug the shit out of Wilson for asking someone out so soon, and Wilson would get scared if he wasn't sure about his decision, which was better for everyone in the end. No, this was a good thing. It meant that everything was finally getting back to normal.

So normal it was almost boring, in fact. House was beginning to feel like he could read every move of Wilson's before he had even made them.

"I'm… I'm going to ask Cuddy to the gala."

Except for that one.

House was silent. Wilson watched him patiently from across the table. House knew he was waiting for him to say something, anything. But what could he say? … other than

"YOU'RE AN IDIOT!"

"Why, because I want to ask out an attractive, smart, successful, single woman?" Retorted Wilson

"No, because you want to ask out CUDDY!!" House bellowed.

Wilson flinched at the shouting and looked around him to make sure they weren't being heard. A few nurses looked in the glass as they walked past, but didn't pay much attention… it was House after all.

He turned his attention back to House before calmly saying, "I'm asking Cuddy to the gala whether you like it or not. You wanted to know SO badly what I was trying to hide, so there it is."

House stared at him. How could he ask her out? The woman was a demon spawn! She bitched constantly, she was his boss, and House knew that the relationship would only end in tragedy.

"You can't ask Cuddy out." House said firmly.

"And why not?" Retorted Wilson with a cocked eyebrow.

Why not? Why was House so up in arms about this? Why did he care so much about who Wilson asked out? He had the right to screw up his life if he wanted to… so why couldn't House bring himself to accept this?

This was bad. He was slipping. Wilson was waiting for him to answer, and all House could think about was choking any bastard that dared to get near Cuddy.

"Because…" House began

Wilson cocked an eyebrow in that irritating way that always set him off. House finally managed to pull together his last ounce of self esteem and put on his best scowl.

"Because she's a dirty skank whore! That's why! You'll get some ungodly diseases."

Before Wilson could retort, House went back to throwing the tennis ball back at the wall… perhaps a little more forcefully then necessary, but still.

Wilson watched House with a small smile playing at his lips. The two sat in silence for some time listening to the thump of the tennis ball against the wall, until finally Wilson broke the silence.

"I suppose it's a risk I'm just going to have to take." Wilson went to stand up and watched House catch the ball and hold it to himself in thought. He began making his way to the door of the office slowly. As he reached the glass door, Wilson turned to take one last look at House and say,

"I guess I'll just use protection, that's all."

With that Wilson left the office, but not before catching a glimpse of the look of horror on House's face.

******************

This had just been a strange day for Cuddy. All she could think about as she sat in her office was how only a month ago she had led a relatively normal life, and today, she had woke up next to the most misogynistic jerk that she knew. Of course they hadn't slept together… but that didn't mean that her subconscious wasn't running a little to wild for its own good.

Now, not only was she having thoughts about one of the biggest asses in her hospital, but her star oncologist had just asked her out. Going to the gala with Wilson should have made her happy. He was a great guy. He was stable. He didn't make her want to punch kittens every time he talked… but for some reason, she was a little disappointed… which REALLY confused her.

She had been staring at the same report for the past 20 minutes and had gotten no closer to reading it. She shook her head trying to clear it of her little distraction, and picked up the paper to get back to work. But right as she did, an earth shattering slam woke her from her stupor.

She looked up to find House busted through her office door. His eyes were squinted in a look she knew to be quite dangerous…on many levels. Cuddy felt her cheeks begin to flush, a reaction that didn't go unnoticed.

"I thought we had already agreed that he wasn't a good enough guy for you." House said so quietly that Cuddy almost didn't hear him. Cuddy shifted her gaze away from his terrifyingly beautiful eyes, and looked down to her papers.

"No, I thought we had agreed that it really wasn't any of your business what I do with my personal life. And what does it matter to you anyway?" Cuddy asked with a cocked eyebrow. She saw the faintest hint of falter fall on Houses face before he picked it back up immediately.

"It matters because I don't want to see Wilson get hurt so soon after he lost Amber!" Said House as he slowly limped his way toward the desk where Cuddy sat. She was distinctly aware of the proximity as she continued slightly flustered.

"It's just a date, House. And besides, I need an escort to the gala, being the Head of Medicine, and Wilson offered. Was I supposed to say no to most likely the only voluntary offer that I would receive for the occasion?"

"Yes! Yes, you were!" Spat House. He placed his cane on the desk and leaned over demanding Cuddy's attention. She turned away from her papers with as much backbone as she could muster and looked him in the eyes…it was barely enough. She felt the distinct tingle go through her spine as she looked into his ocean blue eyes. She stood to face him as she spoke, and gained control of her lesser instincts.

"House, I needed an escort! It was either this voluntary offer or make some poor person go with me! It probably would have been Cutner, or Forman, or…"

"…me?" House said gently.

Cuddy looked at him. He was leaned across the desk so the he was barely a breath away from her face. She felt her voice catch in her throat as she watched a smile play at his lips. His eyes were scanning her face in a look mixed between amusement and admiration.

"Why are you so reluctant to ask me?" House asked. As he did he brought up his hand and brushed a treacherous piece of hair away from Cuddy's face. She let her eyes fall so she could savor the sensation of House bringing his hand around to cup her cheek.

He was warm, gentle, and smelled of some masculine spice that she could not quite identify. She felt him pull her closer toward her face and closed her eyes. She felt him stop half an inch away from her lips. She opened her eyes to see his hooded and his mouth quirked in the smile that always melted her.

He brought up his other hand to lightly brush the other side of her face as he spoke.

"Why are you so reluctant… when it's so obvious you like me?"

And like that, the spell was broken. She pulled away quicker than if he had hit her and immediately brought out the claws.

"Forgive me, but I do believe it is you who always gets us into these situations! If you wanted to ask me to the gala, then you shouldn't have waited until it was too late!" She practically roared at him.

House pulled back and narrowed his eyes.

"Oh come one, we both know that me asking you out would just lead to rampant, but very satisfying, rabbit sex, and I personally don't want to catch the WHORE DISEASE you're obviously carrying!"

House grabbed his cane and began to stalk toward the door.

"So I should tell Wilson he has some jealous competition, then?" said Cuddy sweetly.

House wheeled around so fast that Cuddy was slightly impressed that he didn't fall over with his bum leg.

"You and Wilson can do whatever the HELL you want!"

At that moment a soft knock came on the office door. Cuddy and House both turned to watch Thirteen enter the office.

"What do you want?" asked House in the most acidic tone Cuddy had ever heard. Thirteen took half a step back as she assessed the situation. When she determined it to be stable enough she continued in.

"House, the patient's hemorrhaging in his stomach." Stated Thirteen

"You've had a patient this whole time!?!" Shouted Cuddy at House. House proceeded to role his eyes.

"I'm sorry, was interrupting something?" Asked Thirteen politely.

"Not really, we were just discussing Dr. Cuddy's poor choices in men, nothing important." Replied House with a stabbing look at Cuddy.

Thirteen looked from House to Cuddy before a smile formed on her lips.

"Oh! I'm sorry, you were asking her to the gala… I'll just wait outside." Thirteen turned to leave the office before she heard a simultaneous,

"WHAT!?"

Thirteen turned back to look at them innocently before saying,

"I just thought… I mean everyone has been taking the opportunity today to ask people to the gala, I just thought that's what you were doing. My bad." She folded her hands in front of her and waited with a smile on her face.

House looked irate and Cuddy just put a hand on her face.

Thirteen sat patiently for a few more seconds before saying, "Well, House, if you're not asking Cuddy to the gala, then I was actually wondering if you would go with me? Might be fun?"

House's expression changed to that of shock, and Cuddy's to horror.

"What?! You want to go with House?" retorted Cuddy.

"Why not? He's entertaining, cute, and I know him pretty well. There are much worse dates trust me."

House's expression shifted to that of a hunter snaring a trap.

"Sure, I'll go with you. Why not? Like you said, there are much worse dates." Replied House.

"Whaaaa.." said Cuddy dumbfounded.

"You have something you want to say?" Asked House.

Cuddy shut her mouth. She watched House for a few seconds and turned away in embarrassment. House turned back to Thirteen and said,

"Alright, it's a date. Now let's go save Mr. Bloody Puke before he bleeds out of somewhere even more important."

And with that, House and Thirteen left Cuddy standing confused and embarrassed in her office.


	7. Chapter 7

ch 7

House stared at the ceiling of his bedroom. It was all he could do seeing as he had been trying to sleep for the past 5 hours to no avail. He had tossed and turned trying to get comfortable for the first 2 hours of this fiasco, but finally gave up around 2 a.m.

So here he lay, staring at the ceiling, with his mind wandering to dangerous places. He knew why he couldn't sleep... and it pissed him off. He had become one of Pavlov's dog's that drooled for it's dinner when a bell rang. Except now he could fall asleep unless he had a certain miserable harpy tucked into the crook of his arm. It was pathetic.

And what made it worse was the fact that he knew that was the trouble. He almost wished he were stupider. That way he would simply be wondering why he couldn't sleep instead of spending his waking hours _thinking about_ the reason he couldn't sleep. She was all he had thought about sense he had given up fighting the insomnia 3 hours ago.

Why would she go with Wilson? Sure, House supposed he did have some of that boy next door charm and good looks, but House and Cuddy both knew perfectly well what a terrible husband Wilson made. So, why would Cuddy date him if she didn't think he was a good husband?

_Maybe she just wants to get laid..._

House growled out loud to that thought. He brought a hand up to his forehead in frustration. Damnit! He shouldn't give a fuck if Cuddy wanted to go slumming for a change... but he did. Why hadn't she asked him? Why wouldn't she just admit that what they might have together could be great?

_That's a bit of the pot calling the kettle black..._

He pulled the hand resting on his forehead down over his eyes. Partly to help him sleep and partly to block out what he already knew. He missed her snuggled against his body every night. He missed breathing in the sweet smell of her hair as he fell asleep. He missed the sparing match of wits he would have with her every night before they fell asleep. He missed her, and he wanted her solely for himself.

He rolled over again. He knew he needed to sleep. Tomorrow he would be riding up to New York with Wilson to the hotel were the gala would be held the following day. Most of the top hospital staff would be staying there over the weekend, and House knew Cuddy would be there, too.

A finale thought passed through House's head before he felt the sweet embrace of sleep begin to take him.

_Nothing was set in stone, yet..._

******************

Cuddy yawned to herself as she walked through the revolving doors of the hotel. She hadn't slept well last night for some reason. But as she stepped into the entry way her breath caught. It was a beautiful place. The ceiling went all the way to the roof of the sky scraper, and the rooms lined the edges of the building. The floors were a beautiful dark wood. The main restaurant in the hotel was directly to the left of the entrance, and Cuddy saw that the ballrooms were to her right. That would be were the gala would be held tomorrow night.

She made her way toward the front desk to sign in. As she did she marveled at the beautiful furniture and statues that tastefully decorated the lobby. She was marveling a particularly beautiful fountain piece when a shout met her ears coming from the direction of the reception area.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'ONE KING'?"

Cuddy's head jerked to see the owner of the very familiar voice. House and Wilson were talking to the nearest receptionist with bags in hand. Wilson was looking exhausted and put out, and House looked like he could kill someone.

"House, it's ok. I'll just sleep on the coach." said Wilson trying to placate his irate friend.

"NO! You will be sleeping in a bed. Your own QUEEN SIZED bed in the room that we RESERVED!" House said pointedly in the direction of the receptionist.

"Sir, i'm sorry, but we're all booked up for the event this weekend. This is the only room we can offer you." stammered the terrified woman.

Cuddy walked up to the group before House could berate the poor girl anymore than he already had.

"House, you're going to give the poor woman a heart attack!"

She watched as his expression changed as he saw her. His anger was still obvious, but he snapped his jaw shut rather quickly as she walked up to the counter. She looked at the woman and asked, "I've a two queen room reserved for Lisa Cuddy. Is it available yet?"

The woman typed a few things quickly on the computer before she respond with an affirmative to Cuddy. She thanked her and looked at House.

"There, i'll take your king room, and you and Wilson can take my room, you big baby."

House grunted with indignation as they exchanged keys. Wilson rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, Lisa" Said Wilson as he pulled his bag up onto his shoulder.

Cuddy blushed slightly as she smiled back at him. She had forgotten that they had a date tomorrow night. She needed to quit thinking about House and his stupid behavior and try and remember that she was going to be having a pleasant evening with a good man tomorrow... but she couldn't.

Her eyes darted over to House. He had noticed her blush and was now giving Wilson a death glare. He obnoxiously clear his throat.

"Look if you to are going to do it right now, can you just go ahead and give me the key so I can at least get into our room?"

Cuddy's already rouged cheeks turned almost purple at that. She knew he was just trying to get a rise out of her, but it still worked.

"Dr. Wilson! Dr. Cuddy! House!"

Cuddy turned in the direction of the voice to find Dr. Hadley walking toward the group, bag in hand.

"Ah! Thirteen, good thing you're here. You're just in time to save me from the rampant bunny sex that these two were about to break out in. Not to mention the rather awkward conversation with the concierge afterward." Said House.

Thirteen eyed the party curiously before saying, "If i'm interrupting, I can go up to my room. I just wanted to say hi."

Wilson sighed deeply.

"House is just being an ass, Remy. You're not interrupting a thing." He said politely.

Thirteen smiled back at him.

"Her name's Thirteen. God, you'd think people would know this by now." House said turning to Thirteen.

"Don't worry," He continued "I know who you really are, my friend with lesbian tendencies."

Thirteen simply smiled at him before saying, "Well, that's always a plus, seeing as i'll be going out with you tomorrow night."

Cuddy tried to put on an air of nonchalance, but couldn't prevent her jaw from visibly clenching.

"Say, that gives me an idea." Added Wilson cheerily.

The company looked at Wilson as he continued.

"We're all here, and not doing anything tonight. At least I know House and I aren't."

"Speak for yourself. I have an ass of pay-per-view porn in my hotel room that needs watching."

Wilson ignored this, but Cuddy noticed Thirteen give an all to attractive giggle that she did not approve of.

"ANYWAY, why don't the four of us have dinner tonight in the hotel restaurant? Like a double date?"

Cuddy saw House's expression mirror what had to be her own. A look of confusion and mild horror.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Piped Thirteen.

Cuddy turned to her in disgust. The last thing she needed was to have House watching every move she and Wilson made on their first date. Not to mention that watching Thirteen flirt with House the entire night wasn't exactly going to make dinner a pleasant experience.

But unfortunately, House saw the look of distress on her face.

He clapped Wilson on the shoulder before saying, "Why of course we will join you, my old chum."

Cuddy caught the sidelong glance that he gave her.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Cuddy's eyes narrowed dangerously. If that pompous ass thought that he was the only one that knew how to play hard ball, then he was dead wrong. House simply smirked back at her as she looked at him.

Cuddy softened her expression before turning to Wilson. She took a delicate step toward him, and looked up at him with slightly hooded eyes. She said in the most sultry voice that she could without sounding ridiculous, "Oh, that will be fun, James! Great idea." She brought her hand up to his shoulder and gently started moving it down his arm.

She dared a quick glance at House and saw that he was more than getting the message. His jaw was clenched and he looked as if he were trying to set fire to her with his eyes. Cuddy only smiled, leaned in toward Wilson so she could whisper seductively in his ear. "So, what time are you going to stop by my room."

Cuddy heard a strange muffled noise coming from House's direction. Wilson looked at her curiously before she added quite innocently, "To pick me up? For dinner?" Wilson's expression softened, and she could almost hear House's teeth grind.

"I'll pick you up around 7:50, so we can eat at 8. Does 8 sound good to everyone else."

Cuddy rested her hand on Wilson's shoulder and turned to look at House. He was watching her. She smiled at him as she gently rubbed Wilson's shoulder.

House's eyes narrowed. Served the bastard right for trying to screw with her like this. She smiled to herself in satisfaction... until House's expression changed. Without taking his eyes off her, he slowly began to smile.

Cuddy had to repress an involuntary shiver. She tried to tell herself that shudder came from nerves, but a pesky voice in the back of her head kept trying to draw attention to how fucking hot he looked when he smiled like that.

"8 works for me." Said House finally breaking his gaze and looking at Wilson. Cuddy hadn't realized she had been holding her breath until she let it out at these words.

House turned to Thirteen, and smiled tenderly. Cuddy felt her body go rigid. He gently put his arm around her shoulder and asked politely, "Is that time alright with you?"

Cuddy saw Thirteen stumble on her words. Cuddy knew that Thirteen had never been treated like this before by House. She was obviously confused and a little wary.

"Um... sure. 8's fine."

"Good," said House happily, turning to Wilson. "We'll see you then."

"See you then? House we share a room." Replied Wilson.

"Well, someone's got to help Thirteen find her room, unpack her things, check out the hotel... maybe do a little thorough room inspection."

Cuddy felt nauseous. She barely heard Wilson sigh and shake his heard through the ringing in her ears. She was fighting to stay present as House turned to her once again with his most devilish smile on his face.

"Well, I'll see you tonight."

With a wink, House turned and left with his shoulder around a red faced Thirteen.

* * *

House had finally finished helping Thirteen unpack her bags. With the embarrassment he must of caused her, it was the least he could do, he thought. He placed the empty suitcase in the closet before turning back to face her.

"Well, is there anything else you need? I'm going to go wander the hotel before I have to start getting ready for tonight." House said, hoping to avoid the awkward _I only said those things downstairs to make Cuddy angry, not cause I really want to do them _conversation.

Thirteen sat on the bed staring at House. His palms got a little sweaty. He was hoping with all that he could that she would pick up on the hint. He really wasn't interested. Before he could say anything to reiterate this fact Thirteen spoke.

"House, I know what you're doing."

"And what's that?"

"You're trying to make Cuddy angry. You're using me to get back at her." Said Thirteen plainly.

House was shocked. He had hoped that she would get the message, but not THAT easily.

"I...uh... look, i'm sorry to be using you like this. It's not fair to you. If you don't want to..."

"I didn't say that I was going to try and stop you." Replied Thirteen

House gave her a look of confusion.

"I simply said 'I know what you're doing'." Said Thirteen as if she were saying, 'It's raining today'.

House's look of confusion only deepened. Thirteen waited for him to say something, and when he didn't respond, she sighed.

"Look, House, I know you love playing this game with Cuddy, and in all likelihood, she probably likes playing it just as much. But you do have to remember that you're playing a game."

House cocked an eyebrow.

"What's your point?" He retorted. This was getting boring. The last thing he needed was a lecture from some lesbian floozy who's moral compass was just as off north as his was.

"My point is," replied Thirteen as she stood up and started walking to the door. "That in games, someone has to win," she opened the door leading to the hallway, "and someone has to lose." She gently motioned for him to leave.

House pondered her silently for a few seconds before making his way out he door. Once in the hallway, Thirteen pulled the door halfway closed before saying, "I know you're thinking 'I never lose', but you made need to think about what she'll be losing in this... I'll see you tonight, House."

And with that, she closed the door on a very thoughtful House.


	8. Chapter 8

The band played light jazz music across the mahogany dance floor, which was littered with couples attempting to keep a beat. Tables surrounded the dance floor covered with fine white linen table clothes, and the warm tones in the room were only bettered by the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.

House and Thirteen sat at a table set comfortably close yet far away from the dance floor. House tried to let the music take him away from the current situation, but no matter how hard he tried he was always brought back to the present.

He sat with one arm slung around the back of the chair were his jacket lay discarded. His white button up had the top two buttons undone and was half untucked out of his khaki slacks. He had always hated dressing up. Thirteen, he noticed with a smirk, had relished the occasion.

Despite his indifference toward her, he had to admit that she looked lovely tonight. Her dark hair was curled slightly and pulled half up. It was a great look for her, but what made her look wonderful was the fashionable forest green strapless dress she was wearing. It brought out the color of her eyes beautifully.

Yet, even with an amazingly beautiful woman as his date, his thoughts were elsewhere.

"House? We both know this isn't a good idea," came the distant voice of Thirteen.

House looked at her, taking a few seconds to gather his thoughts. When he was finally able to put his characteristic smirk on his face he retorted.

"Well, we both know that mixing Vicodin and scotch isn't a good idea either, but I think i'm going to go ahead and do that also."

With that he took a big swig from his glass. Thirteen rolled her eyes and shook her head disapprovingly. House turned his attention back to the band. She was right, of course, he thought to himself. The last thing he needed to do was to antagonize Cuddy in the way he knew that this night was bound to cause. But his mind kept returning to the prospect of leaving her alone with Wilson.

He may be a good man, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that Wilson had... plans for Cuddy, and House simply could not stand that. He was slowly coming to realize that no man could have her. None. He wouldn't stand for it.

House suddenly heard a slow groan from Thirteen.

"What?" He said slightly agitated at having his thoughts disturbed yet again.

"Tonight really is going to be bad." She retorted brusquely.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because Cuddy looks amazing." As she responded she looked over his head smiled and waved at someone.

House turned and as he did his breath caught in his throat. She was torturing him. Her hair was curled beautifully around her elegant black dress. He watched her with his mouth slightly agape as she and Wilson caught sight of Thirteen and made their way over to the table.

Her movements were beautiful and fluid. She caught his eyes as she made her way across the room. He knew he was staring, but he didn't care. In fact, he couldn't have looked away if he had wanted to once her face began to flush in that predictable, yet incredibly appealing rose color.

He studied her figure as she sat down across the table from him. Wilson sat on his right. She seemed to be assessing him in like kind, which greatly intrigued him. He watched as her eyes moved from his face down to his slightly agape shirt to the edge of the table and the end of her line of vision back to his eyes.

When they met again, House couldn't resist quirking a devilish smile. He knew what was on her mind... and it fascinated him.

At the sight of his smile, Cuddy turned an even darker shade of red and finally looked away. She took a drink from the water glass already set at her seat, and pulled in a deep breath.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

'Why does he have to look so fucking good?' Cuddy thought bitterly to herself.

'Why can't he look like any other crippled old man that comes into the hospital? Why does he have to look like a sex demon with his shirt open and hanging out like he'd just come from seducing some poor innocent girl?'

She suddenly wished she hadn't thought that last bit as images of House luring her into a dark room began to fill her mind. She took another drink of water. Thankfully, a voice broke the awkward silence.

"So, what's good here? I've heard rumors that the steak is delicious, but my info's from a bit of a shady source."

Cuddy smiled at Wilson. Thank god for him. She knew it was wrong to lead him on like this, but she needed an anchor... lest she get swept away in a lustful sea, a very pompous and indignant sea that she somehow managed to envision walking with a limp.

"Well, I heard that the lamb was wonderful. That's caught my eye, so I think i'm going to try that one." Came Thirteen

"Ohh," Replied Wilson. "That does look good. Now you've got me all confused, I can't seem to decide..."

"So are you two going to fuck right after dinner, or does he need to buy you a drink or two first?"

Cuddy choked on her water and began coughing and sputtering all over the place. Wilson sighed and brought a hand to his head in frustration.

"I was just wondering if after dinner drinks were in order for the two of you. I mean, I'm certainly going to try and get Thirteen here nice and liquored up before we make our way back to the room."

"Of course," retorted Cuddy bitterly. "I mean, how else do you expect to get women into bed with you? It's not like actually being nice to them, and letting them in a little bit will get you anywhere. It's so much more fun to play games with them all day and leave them by the way side as soon as you're done with them, right?" She said hotly.

House glared at her. "No, see I'd rather play the guarded career driven type who tries with all my might to never show an once of weakness. God forbid that one of my coworkers sees me in a vulnerable state, because I have such huge issues trusting people that I could never allow someone to see me even pretend to be weak. They would immediately try and swoop in and take all that I've worked for away from me, because God knows that a woman can't do a man's job."

In the back of her mind, Cuddy saw Wilson and Thirteen fidget in their seats, but she didn't care. The world around her had become slightly tinted red with her rage.

"Hmm, interesting tactic. See I'd rather ignore any type of feeling I have for people and try to push those who might actually care about me as far away as I possibly can so they can't see that I'm actually a sniveling little coward whose afraid to trust people!"

House slammed his hand on the table making Thirteen jump. Cuddy didn't flinch. The two stared at each other for a few more seconds before House said almost silently, "You're just as terrified as I am."

Cuddy's eyes narrowed in confusion. Had he just opened up to her? Had he really just admitted that he was afraid? Or was he still playing his game? The look on his face certainly was serious enough. He looked as if he were trying to dig into her head through her eyes, almost like he wanted to know if she was serious as much as he did. Wilson broke the silence.

"Well... um... as fun as this is, Thirteen, would you care to dance? I feel like... moving." He said awkwardly.

"Huh? Um, sure." she responded.

Cuddy noticed the two extra people at the table got up and moved to the dance floor. She couldn't take her eyes off of House, and it looked like he was having difficulty doing the same. Was he serious? Could he really be telling her why he'd been behaving that way?

The silence was deafening. She was aware that the band was still playing, that there were people all around her still talking, and Wilson and Thirteen were moving around the dance floor not more than twenty feet from were they sat, but she heard nothing.

She wanted to believe him. She wanted with everything inside her to believe that he was trying to tell her that he did care for her, but was too scared to admit it. Every beat of her heart wanted to tell him how terrified she was that he was going to hurt her, that he would just laugh at her after she believed him and leave her heart broken and bleeding on the floor...but she couldn't bring herself to risk it.

She slowly lowered her eyes and looked away as she quietly said "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't look away from me, Cuddy" he said gently.

She looked back at him and felt her heart begin to beat out of her chest with the look of intensity that he gave her.

"You're scared to death of this... and so am I."

Her heart kept wanting to jump out of her throat. A million emotions whirled through her head at once. Fear of embarrassment, hope, sorrow, passion, and confusion were just a few of the most immediate things that went through her head.

The volume of confusion and emotion, however, began to become to much for her. She felt her eyes watering, her stomach turning, and her breathing speed. She couldn't handle this.

"I have to go." she said as she stood and walked out of the restaurant.

* * *

Wilson let out a sigh. "Well, there goes Cuddy. That didn't last long."

The pair had been silently observing in the background. They had maintained a safe distance, so they were unable to hear the exchange, but it was clear that Cuddy had become upset very quickly and had run off.

Wilson spun Thirteen around to give her a look.

"Yep, she's going through the doors right now... House is staring after her.... Oh, come on you idiot, go after her... yes... yes!... yes!!! He's running after her!"

She looked up at Wilson who turned again, and saw that she was right. House was indeed making his way to the door as fast as his leg would allow. He breathed a sigh of relief for his old friend and turned back to Thirteen.

She was gently smiling at him. He couldn't help but notice the proximity of the situation. She felt good in his arms. He smiled back at her.

"Well," she said "we do have the reservations. Would you still like dinner?"

He laughed lightly and nodded. "Just cause they're having a bad night doesn't mean we should."

With that, they headed to table, still hand in hand, and Thirteen made a mental note of how nice that was.

* * *

House cursed his bum leg. What he wouldn't have given to be able to run down that hall. He rounded a corner and came upon Cuddy at her door. She was rummaging through her purse trying her damnedest to find her key before he got up to her.

"Cuddy," he called.

She ignored him and continued to franticly search through her purse. House saw that she was on the verge of tears. He was almost on her as he tried again to get her to recognize him.

"Cuddy, look at me."

She had found her key card and began attempting to put the card in the slot... with little success. He was at her back by this point. She was doing everything in her power to avoid looking at him. She finally managed to make the card work and got the green light on her doorknob.

As she opened the door, House grabbed her hand preventing her from opening the door any farther.

"I'm not going to let you avoid this any longer." He said slightly peeved.

"What, House!? What do you want me to say!?" She said slightly franticly as she let go of the door and looked him in the eyes. She had tears streaming down her cheeks. He stood there silently holding the door. He gave her a little time as she calmed down.

She finally let out a sigh and leaned against the door gently as he held it still slightly open. "I used to have everything together, you know?" She said as she looked at him. "But ever since I almost lost you... I..." A new stream of tears began running down her face. "I'm terrified of everything. I'm scared for my job. I'm scared of being alone. I'm scared of a relationship."

She took a breath calming herself. She looked directly into his eyes as she continued. He felt his resolve beginning to melt as he saw her in this vulnerable state. He wanted to hold her, to protect her, to tell her that everything would be alright and that he would always be there, but he still couldn't bring himself. He could only stare into those beautiful eyes. She blink away a few tears and reached up and put a hand on his face. He felt himself shudder.

"But at the same time," she said in almost a whisper "my worst fear is that you're going to someday walk out of my life forever, and i'll never know... what could have been."

He lost it. In a second he had her in his arms. He pushed against her and went into the room with her in his arms. He heard the door shut behind him as he held her surprised face in his hands. He had her pushed against the closet closest to the door. He looked into her wondering eyes as he lowered his mouth to hers.

He felt her gasp... and then slowly release into the kiss. It was everything he had expected and more. Her lips were soft but eager as he pressed his own against them. He breathed deeply of her scent as he pushed against her with more urgency. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. He had always thought that the torture he felt whenever he looked at her would abate if he could just kiss her, but he was sadly mistaken. That burning he had felt before suddenly felt 1000 times more hot.

She pulled away slightly to take a breath, and as she did, he took advantage of her parted lips. He sucked gently on her top lip and listened with more pleasure then he knew he was capable of as she moaned slightly. He lightly ran his tongue over her lip. She more then took the hint as she embraced him once more. She tasted sweet, deliciously supple and delicate.

He had wrapped his arms around her waist and began to gently rub her side as he move gently over her with his hands. She was perfection in his hand. She was soft in all the right places and firm were she needed to be. He felt his pants begin to tighten as he ran his hand over the generous swell of her rump.

He heard her let out another small noise as she became aware of the... sensations she was arousing in him. He smiled against her lips, and decided to make her even more aware of it. He grab her backside making her push herself even harder against him. She gasped, breaking the kiss, as she felt the more then generously sized swell that was pushing against her stomach.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. He looked back at her with the most devilish grin he could possibly have mustered. A look that made him seem fully capable of tempting any young virtuous maiden into divulging her most prized possession.

He bent down and began to run kissed down her neck. As he did, his hands continued their journey around her body. He felt her breath quicken as he moved toward her breasts. He stopped just shy of the nearest one and felt her lean her body into his hand in protest of his pause. He was more than willing to acquiesce as he took a hold of her in his hand.

She was holding desperately to his back as he made short work of her will power. His mind was reeling with the feel of her. She felt every bit as wonderful as he knew she would. He knew that he never wanted to let her go and that he wanted nothing so much as he wanted this woman in this instant.

He pulled up her dress and began to rub her thigh. Her legs were wonderful, and she was ever responsive to his touch in ways that he had only dreamed of. He made his way up her thigh toward the line of her panties. He let out a small laugh as he felt the sexy lace that she had donned.

He pulled his hand around to the front of her undergarment and began to caress her womanhood. She had already soaked through her panties. She moaned aloud and it took all of his strength to not rip of her panties and his own trousers and have her right there against that wall.

Suddenly, she grabbed his hand and gently pushed him away. He pulled back and looked at her. She had her head down. "Cuddy? Are you ok?"

"... I can't do this, House."

He felt the bottom of his stomach fall out.

"What? Why?"

She shook her head and slightly began to tremble.

"I... House, I can't just be a one night thing... I can't do this, even though I really want to."

He lifted her chin gently so he could look into her eyes. The tears were beginning to well up again.

"You're not a one night thing, Cuddy."

The tears began to stream down her face as she pulled away from his hand and looked away.

"I don't think I can believe you, House."

"Cuddy, I'm not lying! I can't think of anything I want more in the world than to be with you."

"Please!" She said looking back at him like her heart was being torn in half "Don't make this harder than it is. Please just go."

With that she walked away from his embrace toward her bed. He stared at her dumbfounded. Had it really come to this? Did she really mistrust him that much?

He felt himself begin to tense up as he always did in preparation for emotional pain. If she wanted this, then so be it.

"I'll leave, Cuddy." He said quietly. She turned back to him in surprise. "But, one day, you're going to have to trust somebody to love you... I understand that, right now, it's not me, but you can't run away forever."

With that he turned and walked out the door. She never saw the pitiful look on his face as he walked down the hall toward his room, and he never saw her break down in tears on her bed.


	9. Chapter 9

Cuddy woke the next morning to the grating sound of the alarm clock. She had to be at the conference in an hour. Images of what was to come flitted through her mind as she sat up groggily in bed. Stuffy doctors congratulating each other on how wonderfully the hospital was doing, speeches and seminars that honestly could have been sent in an email and weren't completely necessary, a pointless award ceremony that was a custom for the hospital, and then, of course, the reception, where the same said bunch of stuffy doctors would spend all night getting needlessly drunk.

The thought made her shudder as she envisioned some of her older colleagues attempting to grope her ass as they got heavily sedated. She would just have to stay close to friends tonight, she figured. Wilson was going to be there. He was always a comfort. So would Cameron and Chase, but they might be a little more preoccupied with each other... still they would be a comfort. Foreman, Thirteen, Taub, Cutner. They'd all be there for her as she got through the night. And, of course, House could always liven a... House.

The memories of the night before came back to her like a ton of bricks as she stepped into the shower. The warm water washed over her face negating the warm salty water that had begun to stream from her eyes. She wanted to believe him, she truly did, but sometimes the promise of pain outweighs the promise of pleasure... even if there was an exceedingly strong chance for pleasure.

She let the warm water wash away the ache she felt in the pit of her stomach that had managed to spread through her arms, legs, and up to her head which seemed to cause the pesky burning sensation in her eyes. As she finally stepped out of the shower and began to dry herself off, she looked in the mirror. Her eyes were red. She looked paler than normal.

'I've got to be strong enough' she thought to herself. 'I can't show this weakness'. It hurt her even more as she slowly but surely finished her morning ritual. Put on clothes, brush teeth, do hair, put on make-up. She knew that as a woman she couldn't show the secrets of her heart.

A broken heart was a sign of weakness, and a woman could never be weak. She already had a bad reputation for being fickle. To publicly show weakness would surely put her in front of the metaphorical firing squad that was her competitors, people chomping at the bit to get her job.

'No,' she thought to herself as she applied the last bit of concealer 'a woman's heart contains many secrets, many hurts that could never be shown, that could never be revealed. This is just one more for me to bear.'

The woman who stared back at her from the mirror was warm, and inviting. A powerhouse of personality and charisma. The woman smiled her charming smile and turned toward the door. The woman walked out of the hotel room with confidence in her step. Only Cuddy was able to see how badly that woman's hands were shaking from inner pain.

* * *

The unopened bottle of bourbon sat on the table in front of him. He had bought it last night immediately after he had left Cuddy's room, intending to drink it's entirety and blocking out the incidents of last night. However, after about 3 hours of consistent staring at the glass work and the intimate details of the black label, he had left the bottle in peace and simply fallen asleep.

He had woken a few hours ago feeling as if he had, in fact, consumed the entirety of its contents, however. So here he sat. Wondering why he felt like he was having the worst hangover of his life, when the proof that he hadn't had a drop sat blatantly in front of him... mocking him.

'I shoulda just drank the damn thing...' he grumbled to himself.

He'd never felt quite this shitty before. It'd been pretty bad when Stacy had left him, but he had expected that... had deserved that. Did he deserve this? To be judged before he had even had a chance? House let his thoughts drift back to the bottle as he felt the signature self-loathing begin to creep back up his spine. Perhaps, he did deserve this.

The only thing he had ever shown Cuddy was his sarcasm, his inability to be serious, and of course she knew how bitter his spite and anger could be. House hung his head as he realized what he had done. He snorted as he realized that, despite his best efforts, he had managed to get close to someone... but had still succeeded in pushing them away.

He barely turned his head when he recognized the familiar sound of a keycard being put into the door. He prepared himself for the lecture as Wilson stepped through the door.

"House! Why aren't you ready?! I thought you said you would be downstair 45 minutes ago!" Came the familiar berating of his old friend.

"Yeah, yeah, i'll be down in 10 minutes." retorted House half-heartedly

"Like hell you will!" stormed Wilson angrily. He'd had more than enough of House's crap this weekend. It was time for him to get his shit together and either make a move on Cuddy or shut up.

"I know you're just going to sit here and self-destruct all day just because you got turned down by a girl. BOO HOO!!! Man up, puss. Either do something about it, or don't. There's no use in dragging everyone around you down, too." And with that, Wilson stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

House stared after him for a few moments before his eyes returned to the bottle. Do something about it or shut up, eh? Wilson was right... he normally was, although House hated to admit it. But what could he do? Would he simply roll over and take this? Would he let Cuddy walk away?

House's eyes narrowed. He stood up using the support of his cane, and grabbed the bottle off the table. House smirked to himself as he limped over to the bathroom and tossed the unopened bottle into the trash. After all, he had never been one to take no for an answer.

* * *

Thirteen ran her finger down the perspiring glass. She sat in her lovely evening dress with her legs crossed on the stool by the bar. The room was abuzz with doctors from all over the northeast, and she had determined quite quickly that the bar was the place for her to wait out the rest of this ridiculous night.

Her eyes traveled across the dance floor which was littered with overly watered older people trying to relive their glory days and settled on the open ballroom door. There, her eyes were met with the image of a rather irritated yet well groomed Wilson. She watched as he scanned the room, and she couldn't help but feel a small pang of pleasure when his eyes settled on her.

He nodded his head in recognition and began to make his way across the room to where she sat. She realized suddenly as he worked his way through the crowd, that she had unconsciously begun to smooth out her dress. 'That's not a good thing' she thought to herself.

Wilson stormed to her side and demanded a scotch from the bartender before he turned around drink in hand. She watched as he took a few measured sips and looked around the room. "My, aren't we a bright ray of sunshine today?" She asked pleasantly. He sighed and set the now empty glass back down on the bar.

"I'm giving up on them, Thirteen." He said slowly. "I've tried all I can, but I know better than most that you can't help those who refuse to help themselves." Thirteen watched his eyes as they lowered to the floor. It was such a shame. Of course she understood Cuddy's position. Could House really be trusted not to use her? She pondered that inevitable question that everyone faces when they enter into a relationship, and with a look around the room, she decided that no one could ever be entirely sure that they wouldn't get hurt in a relationship. 'Still,' she thought as she looked at the man that sat beside her 'sometimes you just have to take a blind leap of faith in life.'

Wilson turned to see Thirteen smiling warmly at him. He couldn't be sure if it was the liquor kicking in, but suddenly he felt a warmth spreading from his stomach. The couple sat smiling gently at each other, oblivious to the woman who had just walked through the ballroom doors.

* * *

Her demeanor was perfect. Her smile was genuine. Her look was gorgeous. Any onlooker would have determined that she was the powerful, confident, dean of medicine that she was, but inside she was torn.

Part of her wanted to cry as she scanned the room and didn't see the characteristic cane and limp that had become so much a part of her that she could have sensed it from across the room. The other part of her wanted to scream at the first for longing for him.

She made her way into the throng of people, mingling with the stereotypical old doctors, each of which seemed to have already found their way to the open bar. She smiled at each of them, shook their hands warmly and thanked them for coming, all the while trying to force images of burning blue eyes on her face, and warm lips covered with scruff on her own out of her muddled head.

The night was able to go on in this way. Anyone who truly knew Cuddy would have been able to detect how her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, how her conversation was a little slow, and how she constantly seemed to be looking at the door, but all of her work colleagues seemed to fined great pleasure in the satisfying creature who was entertaining them.

Her current dance occupant happened to be the squat, pompous, old chairman of the committee which had hosted tonight's evening, Dr. Selgan. He was shorter than her, reeked of whiskey, and seemed to take delight in stepping on Cuddy's toes, both literally and metaphorically.

"Well," the lecherous old pervert wheezed as he talked to Cuddy's chest instead of her eyes. "It seems that you have done quite well for yourself in that little hospital of yours."

Cuddy nodded with her polite smile, even as she moved to avoid her already sore feet any more abuse. "Yes, thank you. However, it's mainly because of my wonderful team of skilled doctors that the hospital has done so well. I merely keep the books." She said with a light smile, as she desperately attempted to block out the memory of one of her doctors in particular. The way his hands had slid up her thigh, making her breath shudder and her body beg for things that she had only ever dreamed of.

The little toad responded with a throaty croak of laughter. "Hmm, yes, of course I meant complements to the REAL doctors of your hospital. I am an understanding man when it comes to you women in a position of power." He said with a smirk, and winked. "Behind every woman is a good man, eh?"

Cuddy's smile might have been chiseled out of the very ice that surrounded the building.

Selgan continued on, unaware of his quarries perturbation. "And who might your man be, Ms. Cuddy? Perhaps it's that rapscallion, House? Or maybe..." he said with a sweaty hunger in his voice that gave Cuddy a twist of disgust in her stomach, "you are still in need of a... man's touch?"

As he spoke his hand that had been on her lower back began to travel south. Cuddy stopped the dance in disgust with every intention of slapping the disgusting pervert when Selgan looked behind her in surprise and alarm. Cuddy felt the hand on her back move away violently. When she turned to see what had happened, her breath caught in her throat.

House was there, with the man's hand crushing in one first and his cane and other arm wrapped protectively around Cuddy. The look he gave Selgan almost made her feel sorry for the man... almost. Try as she might, Cuddy couldn't help herself from studying House's tensed features. His carved jaw was taught with anger, his steel blue eyes dangerously narrowed, and his brow was furrowed in a look that would have sent any demon straight back to hell.

"Any man that would question Dr. Cuddy's ability to run our hospital completely on her own is a damn fool, but you seem to have won yourself a more impressive title, Selgan," House said with a lethal sneer, "you have been awarded the title of perverted old idiot."

Selgan stuttered stupidly as he began to sweat profusely. Cuddy saw House's teeth clench from underneath his warm arm which was causing traitorous emotions to well up in her stomach, emotions she had spent all morning trying to smother... it seemed to no avail. If House's eyes could burn, Selgan would be on fire, and the poor dwarf of a man knew it.

The lecherous fool took a step back and eyed the door obviously assessing his chances of escape. His eyes met with the gruff doctor's again. Cuddy heard House breath in a tense warning, "go...". Selgan stiffened, his face now bright red with sweat and embarrassment, turned and walked away.

As Cuddy felt House begin to slowly relax as he watched the old pervert walk away, she became acutely aware of a new danger, one which she had been trying to prevent all night. It seemed she had given up an unknown enemy for a known torture.

His eyes finally turned toward hers and they softened into a gentle smile that somehow did more to her than even his smirk did. It gave unspoken promises of a love that she wouldn't let herself dare to wish for, of a future that she was trying to squash, and of pleasure that she had only tasted. She knew that if she would only let herself, if she would only let her mouth speak the words, he would pull her away into that dark abyss that she feared so desperately.

As if catching himself, House's characteristic smirk reappeared on his glorious face. "I leave you alone for a second and you seem to have found yourself in a... touchy situation?"

"Yes, well," she said rather flustered as his arm remained firmly around her, "I'll say nothing for my luck, but you have no need to blame yourself for not being here to save me. That isn't your job, House." His smirk disappeared from his face as one of concern and deep thought replaced it. His eyes seemed to glow as he looked at her deeply, as if he was studying her every feature so as to never for get them. "It should be..." he whispered so delicately that he had to lean in to where their faces where a hair's breadth apart.

Cuddy turned her face, frantically trying to hide the tell tale color that had risen to her cheek. Everything bad inside her cried out in assent, but her logical nature was still screaming out warnings. She just couldn't risk falling into his rabbit hole. She had said so from the beginning. When there was no idea what was on the other side, the risk simply outweighed the reward... or at least she kept telling herself.

The dean of medicine wiggled in his arms, trying to free herself. "House... please..." she said nearly as quietly. Her attempt at escape only had the affect of making him tighten his grasp. "Cuddy, I'm not going to try anything again, but I need to talk to you." She stopped moving for a moment and looked into his eyes. They spoke of nothing but honesty. They seemed desperate to be heard, for her to hear him. The people around them had begun to murmur, as they stood in such an intimate embrace. She hesitated.

He put his palm to the side of her face... and begged. "Please, Cuddy, just one dance." He smiled lightly, "I promise not to do anything, untoward, m'lady." She sighed, and nodded. It wasn't like she had a strong record of being able to resist him. She watched as the genuine smile he had worn earlier returned to his face, making him look like a giddy high school kid whom she had just agreed to go to the prom with.

She couldn't help the small heart flutter as he released his grip, and let one hand graze intoxicatingly down her bare back and came to rest in the proper dance placement. He held out his other hand for her to grasp. She could only comply in stunned silence as he looked at her as if she was some sort of precious gift, and he wanted to cherish every second he was given with her.

On cue, the music began playing in a slow waltz. He moved with a grace that should have been difficult for someone with his disability. They stayed in a small space so he didn't have to move a great distance, but he was able to dance with the best on that floor.

Cuddy turned her gaze away from his face. She didn't trust herself to make a sound judgement when she was looking into those sea storm eyes. "What do you want, House?" She asked with as much detachment as she could muster.

He seemed to assess her query for a moment before responding confidently and earnestly. "To be near you."

She turned to look at him. He still had that smile on his face. That look that made her heart want to melt into his, apparently, very skilled and gentle hands. She looked down, hopelessly trying to avert her attention from his persuasive eyes, wildly trying to regain her footing. "House, please..."

He interrupted her lightly. "Cuddy, I'm not asking what I asked last night. I'm telling you. I'm not giving up. I know that you can't take me as I am now," he lowered his eyes slowly so that they were level with her own, "but in time, you'll realize that I will be your rock. I'll be whatever you need me to be, Cuddy."

Her eyes began to well with tears as he gently pressed his cheek to the side of her face, whispering in her ear. "I'll be a father to you, if that's what you need, giving you guidance." He rubbed her back gently as he continued, "I'll be your brother, someone to love you unconditionally. I'll be your friend when no one is there to see you cry, and one day, when you need me." He pulled his face back to barely a whisper from her lips, "I'll be your lover, but I can't leave you, Cuddy, you've stolen my heart, and I'm yours."

Tears were running down her face as he looked at her. He wiped one of the tears away with a thumb as he cupped her face in his hand. They had stopped dancing. Cuddy couldn't be sure if there were people in the room anymore or not, there didn't seem to be any music, but that could have been a trick. All she knew was that his lips were right in front of hers, tempting her with their sweet delights.

She knew she should have kneed George Selgan in the balls as his toad like croak of a voice came threw the microphone on the stage.


	10. Chapter 10

** OK, so here's the deal. I am SO SO sorry for not updating sooner! I had another issue with it getting too long to be just one chapter, so i'm posting this to tide you over until the rest is done... and it's GOOOOOD ^_^ I'm proud if i do say so myself, but the rest will be a minute. Anyway, hope you like this part, and please don't crucify me for being so late! COMMENT PLEASE!**

Wilson cringed as the drunken doctor began to slur into the microphone. He and Thirteen had been chatting quite pleasantly up to this point, both enjoying the luxury of forgetting about House and Cuddy for one precious moment in their time at this convention. Still, Wilson thought, it was impossible for the pleasantness to last forever.

He grudgingly looked at the squat doctor who had a reputation for being a bit of a disgusting leech. His own ex-wife had the misfortune of dancing with him last year, and had come out of if with a sore hand, and Selgan with a red hand print on his face. The oaf had drunkenly taken the stage in order to start the oration of tonight's gag awards. It had always been a simple bit of fun for the doctoral community, but seemed rather childish to Wilson. Still, he knew that their was nothing he could do to prevent the awkward speech that was sure to come.

These awards consisted of everything from the best malpractice suit... usually won by House, to the ugliest nurses award. They usually tended to keep a lighter tone, but it wasn't unheard of for a drunken coworker to give an awkward speech. Still, this sort of thing made Wilson feel uncomfortable. It left too many variables open, like the one currently spitting more than talking into the microphone.

As the old wretch went through the numerous awards with more than a hint of the whiskey he'd obviously been throwing back, Wilson began to scan the crowd. It had surprised him that he hadn't seen Cuddy yet. Could it have been that she had been too upset to come? He felt a small tap on his shoulder, and turned to see Thirteen gently indicating toward the dance floor. The dancers had currently stopped their movement while paying attention to the orator, and within their ranks, Wilson saw what had intrigued Thirteen.

House and Cuddy stood side by side watching the goof of a doctor make a fool of himself. It surprised and pleased Wilson to see House there, but it pleased him even more to see that House had a protective hand on Cuddy's back while he glared at Selgan. Cuddy didn't seem to mind the contact, in fact, she seemed to be leaning into him if anything. The oncologist smiled slightly to himself.

"Looks like things are finally moving in the right direction," Thirteen whispered lowly to Wilson from her bar stool. Wilson nodded his agreement as he took another sip from his bourbon. "At least for now, but yes, they've certainly made distinct progress." Thirteen smiled gently as she watched the couple. Wilson found a strange urge to keep her smiling in this fashion. He couldn't explain it, but he wanted to make sure that she always smiled. He hated seeing her upset or unhappy. He'd have to remember to do something later to bring a smile back to her face.

He was barely able to bring his attention away from the vexing creature next to him as the drunken host began to raise his voice.

"And now," he slurred into the microphone, "we're going to give away tonight's greatest honor, the booby prize." Selgan paused, to regain his breath and his balance as he was leaning dangerously to the left, threatening an unfortunately loud fall. The audience waited in a strange place, caught between amusement and embarrassment. Some of the doctors appeared to be entertained by this little game, but it seemed that most felt just as uncomfortable with the situation as Wilson did.

"This years prize goes to a doctor who has made her boobies well known throughout the medical world." A few people politely laughed. "But that isn't all. No, not by far. Her joke of a career has lead many to wonder how she was able to get such a high position in a hospital." Fewer people were laughing as they began to hear the drunken tone of the message. "Her sham of a love life has left, at least this doctor, wondering if she is inclined to play for a certain team, if you know what I mean?" Only two or three very drunk and brave people, dared to laugh at this. "And lastly, it seems she's even failed her attempts to adopt a child. Sorry, Lisa Cuddy, it seems that life just hasn't been good to you."

Wilson was horrified. He turned to look at Thirteen who had a hand covering her agape mouth. He wouldn't stand for this shit. No one could talk about his friend like that. This bastard was going down the minute he stepped off that stage.

However, as he blocked out the several nervous clappers trying to be polite, he saw movement in the crowd. Was Cuddy actually being brave enough to come up and get her prize? He tried to look over people's heads to see who was making their way to the stage, but he couldn't quite make it out.

It wasn't until he looked as Selgan's face that he finally figured out who it was... and Wilson had never been more proud.

He watched merrily as House jumped onto the stage, bum leg and all, rushed the podium before Selgan had any time to get out of the way, and cold cock the bastard across the face. Selgan fell like a sack of potatoes, but House wasn't done. He grabbed the man by his shirt, lifted him off the ground just high enough so he could sock him across the other side of his face.

Selgan lay motionless on the stage. A silence fell over the audience. Then, suddenly, Wilson heard someone at his side clapping. He turned to see Thirteen beaming up at House, and clapping her hands together in approval. Why hadn't he thought of that? Wilson joined in, just as several others around the ballroom caught on, as well. Slowly, the vast majority of the room began to clap and cheer their approval for what House had done.

Wilson watched as House finally looked up from his target, astonished. The crowd hooted and hollered their glee that he had gotten rid of the fat embarrassment, and the band decided to start to play again. House scanned the room, looking for something. Cuddy, maybe? Wilson pondered.

He turned from House to check for himself, just in time to see the dark haired beauty moving quickly across the dance floor toward the exit. Wilson turned to point House in the right direction, but he was too late. House had already spotted her, and was off the stage hobbling after her as fast as his bum leg could take him.

Wilson smiled. "Good luck, old buddy." He said lightly. "And may God speed" came a light female voice at his arm. The oncologist turned to look into those lovely blue eyes. She smiled back up at him giving his stomach a now familiar turn over. Maybe it was the booze, but at this point he didn't really care.

"Well, I suppose this means we should get back to our evening. Would you like to dance?" He asked happily. "Gladly," she replied with equal enthusiasm.

House chased her down the hall for the second time in two nights. Only this time, he had much more honorable motives... at least, that's what he told himself. Her door was ajar when he reached it. He could hear her crying inside. He walked into the room carefully trying to be as gentle with her as possible. He'd promised he'd be there for her, and he was going to keep that promise, damn it.

He closed the door slowly behind him, and turned to see her sitting on the edge of the king sized bed that had been meant for him and Wilson. He hated seeing her like this. It made him want to run back into that ballroom and give that leech another good punch, but this time in a lower, much more delicate area of his body. But, he knew he had to be here, and as he sat down next to her, he knew he could handle anything.

"Cuddy... don't let what he said..."

"Who do you think you are?"

Except that.

House stared dumbfounded as she pulled the tissue she had grabbed from the night stand away from her face, revealing seething eyes.

"Wait... What?" House asked.

"Who do you think you are? Coming in here after what you just did?" She all but breathed fire at him.

"After what... 'I' did?" He retorted as confused as ever.

"Yes! After what you just did!" Cuddy roared. "I had everything under control and then you had to go and EMBARRASS me in front of the entire New England medical community!" She stood and looked down at him as she shouted.

House stared at her open mouthed, and watched as she stormed into the bathroom to throw away the tissue she had been using. That was when the haze of fury set in.

"I embarrassed you! Selgan was the one who embarrassed you! I'm the one who you should be thanking for standing up to that creep!" He stood up in a flash, and made his way over to where she stood in the hallway.

She was flushed with anger, and despite his own annoyance, he couldn't help but remember the last time he had seen her flushed in this very spot. But he couldn't think about that now. He had a certain angry shrew he had to deal with.

"I would have been FINE without you, House!" She retorted. She began to take steps toward him. She was furious and, he hated to admit it, intimidating. With each step she too he took one back toward the bed.

"I would have handled it graciously, and then he would have looked like an ass. He probably would have been fired for that drunken speech, but you had to go and play the hero! Now, everyone thinks that I can't handle my own affairs! They think that I need you to play my LACKY!" She all but screamed at him.

She had backed him into the bed. He stared at her for a few seconds as she caught her breath. So that was it... She didn't want to lose face? House's expression softened. Of course she didn't. It was unfortunate that she had to think like this, but that was how she had to think. After all, she had to have learned somethings about power play being a woman in her position.

"I'm sorry, Cuddy." He said honestly. He watched as a flicker of surprise fell across her face. "I only meant to help you. You have to know that?" He inquired gently.

Her face held him entranced as the expressions changed from that of surprised fury to that of acceptance to lastly something else that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Her cheeks had gone flushed again, and she suddenly found something very interesting at the foot of the bed behind him.

"I don't need your help." She whispered quietly.

"I know you don't, Cuddy. And so do all the people that clapped for you in that ballroom just now." He put a hand under her chin and tipped it up so he could look into her eyes. "I know that you've spent all of your life surviving on your own, and you've done a hell of a job of it." His eyes searched hers for a response. She was still. Unmoving. Watching his mouth and eyes as he spoke. "But," He continued "sometimes it's ok to ask for help."

He waited for a response. Something. Anything. She looked into his eyes as they stood, and he became aware, once again, of the hand on her face. He smiled and pulled it around to her cheek. That was enough to pull her out of her trance.

She blinked, closed her eyes for a second, seemingly appreciating the feel of his hand on her face. His heart began to beat at an unnerving pace. She felt so damn good in his hands. He wanted nothing more than to lean down, kiss her, and continue where they had left off last night, but he knew he couldn't. It wasn't his place. The ball was in her court, and would be until she made the next move. But that knowledge didn't make it any easier.

When she opened her eyes again, she turned her head, lightly brushing his hand away, and looked down. He felt bereft, lost without the feel of her warmth, but he knew there was nothing for it. He watched as she stepped toward the window and out of his reach. She seemed to be watching the flurries fall around the hotel, but he waited for her to speak.

"That..." she began slowly, "would require trusting someone."

The blow rang home. He stood and watched her quietly as his heart fell to pieces. Her back was to him, but he thought he could detect her hands shaking slightly. They held their mutual silence for sometime, before House responded quietly.

"I suppose you're right." He thought he saw a barely distinguishable twitch of her head, but he knew he must be imagining things. She didn't want him. She didn't love him. She had just been playing a flirtatious game, and that was all he'd ever be to her. A game. He smiled to himself at the interesting change in scenario. Usually it was him who played with her.

"Well then," he continued softly "I suppose I should go. I'll leave you alone now, I promise. There's no point in me hanging around if you can't even trust me to be a decent person... I'm sorry for wasting your time."

She continued to stare out the window as he walked toward the hallway. He stopped a few feet from the door, and slowly turned around.

"I really hope you can find someone to love someday, Cuddy." He talked quietly, trying not to let the lump in his throat show... with little luck. "It's always a risk when you fall in love. You never know if the person will break you or make you, but it's a risk, I for one... was willing to take." She turned suddenly to look at him as he spoke, but he couldn't find the courage to look her in the eyes as he continued. "I suppose that was silly of me. Find someone, Cuddy. Find someone that you can love as much... as I love you. Goodnight."

And with that, he walked toward the door. He grabbed the handle, swung the door open and had taken a step out into the hallway when he heard it.

"House! Wait!" She called after him. He turned in the doorway to see her rushing toward him. Before he could even fully grasp the situation, she was on him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her soft lips pressing against his.


	11. Chapter 11

The world had slowed when he spoke those words. "...as I love you." Her mind had gone into a fog, a drift in a sea of emotion and confusion. He loved her? He LOVED her? She couldn't believe it. She watched his features form the goodbye he spoke at a snails pace.

How could he love her? After the way she treated him last night? After all of the crap she'd given him? But for some reason, he did, and she knew that what he spoke was the truth. He wouldn't hurt her if he could help it.

As the realization set in, and her eyes came back into focus, she became aware that he was leaving. Leaving? She thought in her confusion. Why would he be leaving? He loves me... but I never told him... Her heart went into overdrive as she thought of what she had to do. He couldn't leave, not again, not two nights in a row. She finally knew how she felt about him, and she had to let him know.

"House! Wait!" She forced herself call after him through her tight throat as he had taken a step out into the hallway. She watched him turn to look at her with that heartbreaking look of sorrow in his eyes before she noticed her feet were moving. She crossed the room in 3 long strides, and had him in her arms.

She kissed him with a fever that she never knew she possessed, with a passion that she thought had been long dead inside her. She had to somehow prove to him that he was not alone in his feelings, that she needed him with every inch of her being. That she couldn't stand the thought of him leaving the room that night.

When she finally pulled away from the kiss and looked at him, he was shocked. She laid her head on his chest and held him tightly as she spoke.

"I'm so sorry, House. I should have told you. I should have told you years ago, but I was too terrified of being hurt by you. I didn't think I could stand your rejection." She pulled away and looked up into his still bewildered gaze before continuing. "I love you, House." she said gently.

His expression melted into something unfathomably tender. She felt as if she could melt into him as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a deep kiss. She felt him pushing her back inside slowly, and was left temporarily chilled as he withdrew his hand to shut the door. She looked back up at him with a small smile on her face when they finally broke the kiss.

"Closing the door?" She asked with mock concern. "I think we're being a bit presumptuous," as she spoke she ran a finger down the side of his neck that made him shiver. "Don't you think?

He glared back down at her before he spoke, and with a purr so dark and dangerous it made the hair on her neck rise, he said "You're in way over you head little girl." With that he picked her up off her feet, walked her toward the bed, and set her down there. Cuddy's eyes widened as he set a hand on either side of her. His eyes burrowed holes through her skull as he began to crawl toward the headboard. With a look that could have rivaled Lucifer himself, he continued his husky growl as he crawled.

"There's no going back now. I love you too fucking much to spend another night without you, and I will be DAMNED if I'm going to let anything, even your silly games, get in the way tonight."

She finally felt the pillow underneath her head, and stopped her progress while he continued his. She smiled slyly. "Well then," she said, grabbing a hunk of his shirt and wrapped a leg around his waist, pulling him closer to her as she spoke, "we'll just have to do something about that."

She felt fire begin to spread all over her body as he set another searing hot kiss on her lips, this one much more urgent, less tender, but alive with passion and need. His tongue fanned the flame as he explored her mouth, pulling small little gasps out of her with every movement of his hands.

The offending limbs had begun to caress every inch of her now well heated body. Pulling the well shaved leg up to the side of his hips, and running a warm but demanding hand up her thigh. The other hand found its way to Cuddy's side where it was lightly rubbing her stomach and would occasionally let its finger wander toward her now aching breasts.

She nearly cried out in protest when he broke their kiss, but she was silenced as she felt him move delicately over her excited flesh to the more sensitive area of her neck. His warm wet tongue sent shudders through her very core pulling warmth from her nether regions. She couldn't help herself as she grasped the salt and peppered hair on the back of his head, and whispered his name.

He slowly pulled his hands away from her breast and leg, and grabbed both of her hands from around his head. He looked up at her like some greek god with hooded eyes as he brought her hands around to the front of his face. _There was that smirk again_. She thought to herself as she leaned forward trying to capture his mouth again, but he would have none of it.

This move only served to make his smirk widen as he maintained control of her hands. He turned his head slowly, and kissed one of her palms before saying gently, "you're not the boss here, Cuddy." He placed both of her hands in one of his as he continued with a grin, "at least not tonight. Not after the way you treated me."

She gave him a confused look that nearly made him chuckle as he began to pull her hands over her head. It wasn't until he pulled off the belt on his trousers with his free hand that she began to understand... and heat began to flood from her lower half. As his hands worked tying her to the headboard, his face was on her forehead, kissing her so tenderly and reassuringly that she couldn't have felt safer... or more aroused for that matter.

He gave the belt a small tug when he was done, sat up, and looked down at her. "Too tight?" He asked. Cuddy gave a feeble shake of her head. With that, he turned his attention to the full length of his newly caught prey. He scrutinized her slowly, taking in every lovely inch of her. She felt his eyes move over her breasts, making them taught with excitement, toward her legs.

She was suddenly both very happy and very annoyed that she still had on her dress, because she would have felt like a poor lamb caught in a snare with a hungry wolf licking its chomps at her. Still, she wasn't entirely sure she didn't want him to devour her whole, right now.

Almost as if he could read her thoughts, House brought his hands down on her stomach. She arched her back into him as he gently wrapped his arms around her prone form. She could feel his warm hands searching her back skillfully for the zipper. When he finally found his quarry, he brought one hand slowly down to her rump, lifted her weight easily off the bed, and pulled down the zipper. Once the garment was loose, he slowly pulled it off with the hand at her rear.

She was bare to him now. Naked with nothing but a lace thong in between him and his goal. She felt her cheeks color as he looked over her, his mouth slightly agape. She turned her head into the pillow with embarrassment. Almost immediately she felt his hand on her cheek gently asking her to look at him.

When she turned he was barely a whisper from her lips, the full weight of his body and arousal pressing onto her still form. His eyes were tender as they stared into her own, almost reverent. "You're so beautiful, Cuddy." He whispered dearly, and placed a slow, gentle kiss on her lips. "I could stare at you in awe, forever."

When he leaned away from her again, she smiled at him lovingly, which he returned in kind. Slowly, his attention was drawn again to the exposed, taught nipples that were begging for attention. She watched and appreciated the progressive change in his face from some gothic angel, to a demon of a much darker manner. She felt no fear as his smile of worship was replace by one of a much more primal nature, only excitement.

He slowly brought a hand up to her neck, cupped it, circled it gently. Then, ever so slowly, he began to run the entire length of his palm down her chest, passing achingly slow between her breasts, over her stomach, making her shudder with need, and between her legs, where she nearly bucked even with the brevity of the contact.

The good doctor smiled at this reaction. He leaned forward slowly so that his lips could touch the hollow at the base of her neck. He gently ran his nose down her chest, making her shiver with excitement, and found his way to her right breast. House cupped it gently at first, but even that slight motion made her moan. Encouraged by her reaction, he brought his mouth down around her taught nipple, sucking and playing with her.

Cuddy was lost in a sea of pleasure as he made short work of her will power as well as her body. Her mind was a puddle of muddled thoughts and emotions as his mouth worked one breast and his hand worked the other. Slowly she became aware of the progression his other hand had begun to make south. She let out a gasp as his hand brazenly entered her panties, and spread her folds with the same expert care she had felt last night. Only this time, there was no second guessing, no worry, no concern, only him and her, and the love she knew they felt for each other.

House expertly rubbed her little nub as his mouth and other hand worked her breast. She felt his hand dance around the entrance to her inner self, using her own moisture to lubricate, which was plentiful by this point. She was mumbling incoherently, sometimes begging, sometimes saying his name. All she knew was the pleasure he was bringing her toward, and the release she knew he would let her have.

She grew closer and closer to that precipice of ecstasy when he removed his mouth from her breast and began to slowly make his way south, kissing her stomach with gentle intervals. His hand continued to tease and torture her, promising release one second only to take it away the next.

When his head reached in between her thighs, he paused. House brought both of his hands to her tense legs and spread them apart coyly. She stammered a nearly incoherent plea for him to continue, and when he simply looked up at her in amusement, she pulled at her restraints, trying with all she had to get at him, but to no avail.

He chuckled lightly and put a hand on her stomach, calming her, before saying, "Patience, love. I won't let you down." And with that, he gently ran both hands up her thighs, beneath her lace underwear, and up her stomach. The simple contact made her quiver as she spoke, "Oh God, House, please..."

His devil's smile widened as he brought his hands back down between her thighs, spreading them tenderly. He gently moved the material covering her womanhood to one side, without actually removing them, and began to gently rub her nub again with his thumb. She could feel her climax coming quickly now, and almost as if he could read her mind, he brought his mouth down, replacing his fingers.

She felt her legs clench around his shoulders involuntarily as he forced her to the edge of the dark chasm, and as she reveled in the velvet, warm feel of him while looking over the edge into oblivion, he slid two fingers inside of her. That was the only push she needed. He pumped her gently as the orgasm rippled through her, making her pull against the belt that held her and her toes culled in rapture.

He didn't slow his movements until her breathing finally began to slow, and she fell limp on the bed. He slowly moved the garment back into place, and sat up, looking like a cat who had found the cream. The demon moved like one, as well, slinking up the bed toward the head board where he began to unfasten her restraints.

Cuddy watched him work half in a daze, half still mad with heat. She couldn't help but notice how unfortunately over dressed he was. _No matter_, she thought, _we'll soon make short work of that._ She felt her hands freed, and as if someone had fired a gun at the start of a race, she pounced on him.

She kissed him feverishly, which he reciprocated, as she made short work of his shirt and trousers, and when he was finally nude before her, she gazed at his perfect male physique. Male, that was the best way to describe him. He wasn't "pretty", that wasn't the right word. He had some light hair dusting his chest, flecked with silver like on his head, abs that would have made any roman warrior proud, and arms that, she well knew, could lift her off her feet... and into his lap.

Her kisses began to become more passionate, more urgent, and slowly she began to move forward, forcing him to lower himself onto the bed. Her hips kneaded his slowly, with purpose as her hands explored every intriguing detail of his firm, warm body. She could sense his breath quickening as she expertly moved across him, pausing briefly at a particularly fun spot where his legs joined his hips. Even a small graze of this juncture seemed to send him into a frenzy.

But Cuddy had bigger fish to fry, she thought with a mischievous smirk. She let her hands gently message his upper thigh as she began to kiss his neck, swirling her tongue over his sensitive skin making him take sharp ragged breaths. As her tongue worked it's magic on the tender flesh, she let her hands move to his arousal.

"Oh my god," he barely whispered as she finally grasped him. She felt herself smiling with satisfaction as she explored every inch of his impressive manhood, slowly teasing him into a fever that could only be quenched in one way. She let her fingers dance around his head before cupping his shaft and adeptly stoked him, paying careful attention to every part, but at such an agonizingly slow pace, House thought he might die from the torture.

It wasn't until she felt the first bit of his precum pooling at the head of his erection before she moved her mouth away from his neck. House struggled to maintain his sanity as she moved slowly and intoxicatingly down his body. He had experienced pleasure in his life, sure, but this was something else... something that couldn't be put to words.

She had broken down every wall and barrier he had thrown up in his defense, and instead of the incredible pain he had been sure he would have felt, he was left with nothing but sheer ecstasy... yet, even ecstasy was not an adequate enough word to describe the sensation of feeling her warm breath for the first time on his nether regions.

He was aching for her. He was twitching and swollen, almost to the point of pain, as she slowly tease him with the promise of more. Her hands continued their slow and agonizing work as she gently laid the smallest of kisses on his head. The soft feel of her lips sent fire coursing though his blood, a fire that was only building in fury, and she was fanning. She was playing with something, that he knew would engulf them both if she continued her nefarious plot.

She looked up at him and smiled coyly when she saw his jaw set with concentration. "What?" she asked gently as she continued pumping the shaft. "Is there something you want, House?" She felt new hunger surge through her as she saw the fire behind his eyes. The flames that she was tending was burning brightly in his blue mirrors. "You... are... pushing... it..." He said slowly.

She gave a good long stroke and heard him suck in his breath between his teeth. "No, House," she began almost inaudibly, "pushing it would be doing this..." With those last words, she took him into her mouth, slowly swirling his head with her tongue as she mimicked the age old motions that she knew would set him off.

She heard him moan, and felt him grab the sheets on the bed. She could hear the mattress cover being pulled off slowly as she continued. With each flick of the tongue, each movement of her head, she heard the elastic holding the white cover onto the bed growing more strained... and then finally something snapped.

And it wasn't the sheets...

House grabbed her shoulders, threw her onto her back at his side, and pinned her underneath him. She was in half a daze from the surprise and disorientation as she felt him grab her undies, still on, and pull furiously. They ripped with little resistance. After chucking the offending garment, House brought his hand back to Cuddy's face and kissed her. He kissed her more tenderly, yet more passionately than she had ever experienced in her life.

And as she finally began to regain her bearings from being tossed, he lowered his free hand to her hips for support, and thrust into her without reservation.

She broke the kiss and called out his name into the night. Stars were flashing behind her eyes as he began to move inside of her. He was heat, pure and simple. He was hard and fast warmth within her. Her thoughts were a blur of joy and emotion as the warmth and electricity began to spread all throughout her body.

He looked into her eyes as he felt her velvet sheath surround him. This was perfect. This was more than he had ever imagined, ever hoped for in the long years he had admired her from afar. This was something more than just sex, something he had been searching for all his life, but had only ever glimpsed in her... and now he had it, he had her.

She never wanted to let him go. Never wanted this to end. She just wanted him near her, wanted nothing more than to be with him, always. As she began to approach that precipice of ecstasy once again, she realized that she would never be able to let him go.

House heard her cry out with her release as he felt his own mounting, and with one final thrust he let out his own masculine growl and shot his hot seed inside her. He felt her quivering around him as he finished filling her. He couldn't move, didn't want to move, didn't want to bring any distance between them.

She looked up at him with that smile, that smile of pure joy that he had been searching for from the moment he met her. He returned it in like kind as she brought a hand to his face. She leaned up slowly and kissed him. She let her forehead stay touching his as she spoke.

"You'll have to move sometime, House" She giggled lightly. He looked at her devilishly, "Calm down , woman. I'm only one man! Give me a minute and you'll get your lust satisfied." She glared at him, but couldn't seem to wipe the smile from her face. "You know what I meant, idiot. I won't judge you if you want to rest your leg."

House smirked at her before rolling onto his side. She felt his loss, but just for a moment as he pulled her snugly against him. She felt him nuzzle her hair, and she felt that she could melt into him right then and there. "I'll have you know that we will be sleeping very little this night, Ms. Boss Ma'am" She looked up at him like a cat in heat. "Oh really? Aren't we being just a bit over self-confident?"

"Just because every other 'boy' you've been with has had the stamina of a 15 year old doesn't mean you need to project on me." He said with his usual glib. "Forgive me that I've never been with such a dirty old man before." She cut back with a snicker. "Yes," he said lowly before slowly moving his hand rather intoxicatingly over her still naked flesh. "I could tell you hated ever minute of it."

She could barely speak as she continued, "that's... not fair." She said distractedly. House chuckled "I'll have to remember that spot next time I ask you for something." Cuddy looked up at him seriously. She sat up slowly. "House, I think you already know that I would give you anything you wanted..." He sat up next to her.

He could feel the concern in her voice. He place a hand on her back gently as she continued "but... we both know I do what I do for the hospital's sake..." She looked into his eyes pleadingly. "Please, don't be offended if things don't change to much as far as that goes."

House's expression softened. "I'd be disappointed in you if it did, Cuddy." He watched lovingly as she smiled... and then her expression slowly changed to something a bit more feral as she looked over his bare form a bit. "So," She began, "about being up all night. Was that all just talk?"

House smirked, which drove her wild. He kissed her intently as they leaned back down onto the bed. He broke the kiss and looked at her lovingly underneath her. She returned the gaze with equal intent as she ran her hands through his hair. He put a hand to her face as he spoke barely above a whisper, "I'm never going to be able to let you go." He watched as a single tear rolled down her cheek as she smiled with joy. "Then don't ever try."

And with that, House made good on his promise. The fall down the rabbit hole might have been a little bumpy, but the wonderland he led her through was more than she had ever dreamed.


End file.
